5 Lei

Moldova's leu was introduced in November 1993, replacing the cupon — a short-lived transitional currency that had itself replaced Soviet rubles just two years earlier. The 5 Lei belongs to the first substantive leu series, designed and produced by the Banque de France printing works in Chamalières. The French connection was common among newly independent post-Soviet states scrambling for credible, technically secure currency production in the early 1990s, when domestic printing infrastructure simply didn't exist.

The series ran with remarkably few modifications across nearly two decades, with the 1994 through 2013 date range reflecting reprint years rather than design changes. Later printings show subtle shifts in paper stock.