5000 Lei

Romania's shift to polymer banknotes was already underway by the late 1990s, making this 1998 paper 5000 Lei issue something of a transitional relic. The denomination itself was a symptom of the hyperinflationary spiral Romania experienced through the early-to-mid 1990s, when the leu lost value so rapidly that five-thousand-unit notes became routine pocket change rather than significant currency.

The watermark remains the sole mechanical security feature — modest protection for a note circulating at a time when counterfeiting pressure on high-denomination Romanian paper was a documented concern for the BNR.