Pursuant to the provisions of Law No. 312/2004 concerning The Statute of the National Bank of Romania, on 30 December 2009, the National Bank of Romania will put into circulation, for numismatic purposes, a gold coin, a silver coin and a copper-plated tombac coin commemorating the 190th anniversary of the birth of Nicolae Bălcescu – Romanian historian, writer and revolutionary.
The gold, silver and copper-plated tombac coins have the following characteristics:
| face value |
leu 500 |
leu 10 |
leu 1 |
| metal |
gold |
silver |
copper tombac |
| shape |
round |
round |
round |
| diameter |
35 mm |
37 mm |
37 mm |
| purity |
999‰ |
999‰ |
- |
| weight |
31.103 g |
31.103 g |
23.5 g |
| quality |
proof |
proof |
proof |
| edge |
flat |
flat |
flat |
| coinage |
500 |
1,000 |
1,000 |
Obverse: in the upper part: Romania’s coat of arms; below: the face value of the coins (1 LEU, 10 LEI, 500 LEI); in the lower part: inside a garland of laurel, a reproduction of the painting entitled România Revoluţionară (Revolutionary Romania) by Constantin Daniel Rosenthal.
Reverse: to the left, in the foreground, the effigy of Nicolae Bălcescu taken from a painting by Gheorghe Tattarescu; to the right, in the background, partly covered by the effigy, a depiction of a group of 1848 revolutionaries from the aquarelle by Costache Petrescu and the years “1819” and “2009”; inscribed in the outer ring are the legends “DREPTATE FRATIE UNITATE” (Justice, Brotherhood, Unity) in the upper part and “NICOLAE BALCESCU” in the lower part.
The selling prices – VAT excluded – are leu 5,130 for the gold coin, leu 180 for the silver coin and leu 70 for the copper-plated tombac coin.
Each coin is housed in a transparent plastic capsule and is accompanied by a leaflet featuring an overview of the numismatic issue in Romanian, English and French. The leaflets come with a certificate of authenticity bearing the signatures of both the Governor and the Head Cashier of the National Bank of Romania.
The coins may also be offered in presentation cases embossed with the NBR logo – BNR on the lid. The prices mentioned above do not include the cost of the presentation cases.
The gold, silver and copper-plated tombac coins commemorating the 190th anniversary of the birth of Nicolae Bălcescu – Romanian historian, writer and revolutionary are legal tender in Romania.
The collector gold, silver and copper-plated tombac coins, commemorating the 190th anniversary of the birth of Nicolae Bălcescu – Romanian historian, writer and revolutionary, will be put into circulation through the branches of the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iaşi and Timişoara.