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500 Lei
| Issuer | Banca Națională a României |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940-1943 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 155 × 83 mm |
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| Obverse description | At left, an intaglio vignette portrays two female allegorical figures in traditional Romanian costume, one holding an axe over her shoulder. The royal coat of arms is centred in the upper portion, flanked by the denomination numeral 500 in the lower corners. Serial number and date appear in the central field, with the signatures of the Governor and Central Cashier printed beneath. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ROMANIA FALSIFICATORII ACESTOR BILETE, ACEI CARII VOR FI INTREBUINTAT BILETE FALSE, COMPLICII LOR, PRECUM SI ACEI CARI VOR FI INCERCAT A COMITE ASEMENEA FAPTE VOR FI PEDEPSITI CONFORM LEGILOR PENALE E. GASPE SC (Translation: ROMANIA THE COUNTERFEITERS OF THESE TICKETS, THOSE WHO WILL HAVE USED FALSE TICKETS, THEIR ACCOMPLICES, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO WILL TRY TO COMMIT SUCH DEEDS WILL BE PUNISHED UNDER CRIMINAL LAWS) |
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| Comments |
Romania's wartime finances were under severe strain by 1940, and the expanded note issue this series represented was partly a consequence of occupation costs imposed by German forces following the Vienna Awards and Romania's alignment with the Axis. The 500 Lei denomination circulated under three successive governments — Carol II's royal dictatorship, the Legionary State, and Antonescu's military regime — without the note itself being redesigned.
Gaspérini was a French engraver whose work appears on several Romanian issues of the interwar and wartime period, contracted through the established relationship between BNR and Western European printing expertise before that channel closed.