Catalog
50 000 Lei
| Issuer | Banca Nationala a Romaniei |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001-2004 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | At right, an intaglio portrait vignette of composer George Enescu is set against a multicolour guilloche underprint incorporating a violin and floral motif at centre-left, with musical notes in the middle field. The Romanian state coat of arms appears at upper left, flanked below by two authorising signatures. The denomination numeral 50.000 is printed in large figures along the lower margin and repeated vertically at right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BANCA NATIONALA A ROMANIEI 50.000 50.000 FALSIFICAREA ACESTOR BILETE SE PEDEPSESTE CONFORM LEGILOR CINCIZECI MII lei 50.000 |
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| Comments |
Romania's shift to polymer banknotes in the late 1990s and early 2000s was part of a broader reckoning with catastrophic post-communist inflation — by 2000, the leu had lost so much value that a 50,000 denomination was needed simply for routine transactions. The polymer substrate was adopted partly for durability in high-circulation conditions, but also because counterfeiting of the earlier paper issues had become a serious operational problem for the BNR.
This series was eventually demonetized when Romania redenominated in July 2005, replacing 10,000 old lei with 1 new leu — rendering the 50,000 Lei equivalent to just 5 new bani.