500 Lei

Romania's interwar period placed enormous strain on the BNR's ability to maintain confidence in the leu, and the 500 Lei series of the early 1930s was partly a response to currency reforms following the catastrophic hyperinflation of the 1920s — the leu had lost roughly 97% of its prewar value by the time stabilization was achieved in 1929. Commissioning Bradbury Wilkinson, then at the peak of their intaglio security printing work, was a deliberate signal of institutional credibility.

Bradbury Wilkinson's New Malden facility produced banknotes for dozens of governments during this period, and Romanian commissions were not unusual for them. The watermark remains the primary security feature — no fibers, metallic thread, or overprint.