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500 Lei
| Issuer | Romania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1877 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | First leu (1867-1947) |
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| Obverse description | The note is framed by an elaborate architectural border with figural vignettes: a group of two peasant women with a child at the left margin and three peasant women with two children at the right margin. An ornamental cartouche bearing the date is positioned at the top centre, supported by putti. The Romanian coat of arms and the inscription ROMANIA appear at the bottom centre, flanked by the denomination numeral 500 in each lower corner. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Romania's first domestically authorized banknotes were printed in Paris by the Imprimerie de la Banque de France — an arrangement that reflects how young the Banca Națională a României actually was in 1877, having been established by law only that July, months into the Russo-Turkish War that would ultimately secure Romanian independence. The timing was not coincidental; the new state needed a functioning monetary infrastructure quickly, and outsourcing the printing to France was the fastest credible option.
Bramtot and Duval were both associated with French official engraving circles. Dujardin's intaglio work on this series is technically accomplished — his name appears on other Banque de France-adjacent commissions of the same period.