10 Lei

Romania's switch to polymer banknotes in 1999 made it one of the first European countries to adopt the substrate nationally, initially prompted less by counterfeiting concerns than by the chronic wear problems that plagued paper notes in a still-cash-heavy economy. The 10 Lei denomination entered circulation following the July 2005 redenomination, which lopped four zeroes off the old leu — this note's face value was equivalent to 100,000 of the pre-reform lei.

Printed by Note Printing Australia under contract, the series was designed to integrate the transparent window into the compositional layout rather than treat it as a discrete security afterthought — a deliberate printer-side decision that distinguished it from earlier Romanian polymer issues.