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500 Lei Red Army Command
| Issuer | Comandamentul Armatei Rosii (Red Army Command) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
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| Printer | Goznak (Гознак, Экспедиция заготовления государственных бумаг), Russia (1818-date) |
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| Obverse description | Brown note printed on a light green guilloche underprint. The centre carries a large numeral '500' within an ornate lozenge-shaped frame, with the legend CINCI SUTE LEI across the middle. The curved inscription COMANDAMENTUL ARMATEI ROSII arcs across the upper portion, while the obligation clause PRIMIRE IN TOATE PLATILE ESTE OBLIGATORIE and the year 1944 appear at the foot. Denomination numerals '500' are repeated in each corner. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Brown on light green guilloche underprint, the design closely mirrors the obverse layout but without the year or obligation clause. The central lozenge frame encloses the large '500' numeral with CINCI SUTE LEI across it, flanked by two ornate rosette vignettes at left and right. The curved heading COMANDAMENTUL ARMATEI ROSII appears at top, and the anti-counterfeiting warning legend runs in small text along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Soviet occupation currency, printed at the Goznak facility in Moscow and issued by the Red Army Command following Romania's armistice with the Allies in August 1944. These notes were produced specifically to facilitate Soviet military expenditure in occupied Romanian territory — a mechanism that effectively transferred real goods and labor to the Red Army at Romanian expense, since the National Bank of Romania was eventually pressured to redeem them at face value.
The series generated considerable economic damage. Romanian economists at the time estimated that Red Army command currency contributed meaningfully to the inflationary spiral that preceded the 1947 monetary reform, which wiped out private savings and smoothed the path for full communist consolidation.