Catalog
5 Lei
| Issuer | Banca Națională a României |
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| Year | 2005-2017 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | At center-left, an intaglio portrait vignette of composer George Enescu (1881–1955) is flanked by a stylized carnation (Dianthus) bloom and a violin with two musical notes, all set against a multicolor guilloche underprint. The Coat of Arms of Romania appears in the upper left, alongside the bank title "BANCA NATIONALA A ROMANIEI," the denomination "5 LEI" in both numerals and words, the BNR emblem, and the authorized signatures of the Governor and Chief Cashier with the issue date. |
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| Protection type | Watermark, Security thread |
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| Comments |
Romania's switch to polymer banknotes began in 1999, making it one of the earliest European adopters of the substrate — well ahead of most EU member states. This 5 Lei note is part of that polymer series, which was introduced alongside the 2005 redenomination that replaced the old leu at a rate of 10,000 to 1, effectively erasing four zeros that inflation had rendered embarrassing.
The redenomination was cosmetic rather than corrective, but it did coincide with genuine macroeconomic stabilization. Notes from the early years of the series carry the 2005 date; later printings extend into the 2010s with no substantive design changes.