Pursuant to the provisions of Law No. 312/2004 – The Statute of the National Bank of Romania, on 26 September 2011, the National Bank of Romania will put into circulation a collector silver coin commemorating 450 years since the Gospel was printed in Romanian.
The silver coin has the following characteristics:
- face value: 10 lei;
- shape: round;
- diameter: 37 mm;
- metal: silver;
- fineness: 999‰;
- weight: 31.103 g;
- quality: proof;
- edge: milled.
Obverse: inscribed in a circle: the inscription “ROMANIA”, the image of a Gutenberg printing press and two books, the face value “10 LEI” and Romania’s coat of arms; on the rim, inscribed circularly is an excerpt from the Epilogue to the Gospel in Romanian printed by deacon Coresi in 1561: “MAI BINE E A GRAI CINCI CUVINTE CU INTELES, DECAT 10 MIE DE CUVINTE NEINTELESE IN LIMBA STRIINA” (‘RATHER SPEAK FIVE WORDS WITH MY UNDERSTANDING THAN TEN THOUSAND WORDS IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE’); within the exergue, the year of issue “2011”.
Reverse: a detail from the frontispiece of a page in the Gospel printed by deacon Coresi; to the left, the year when the gospel was printed “1561” and the name of the printer “CORESI”; on the rim, the half-circular inscription “450 DE ANI DE LA TIPARIREA EVANGHELIEI IN LIMBA ROMANA” (450 YEARS SINCE THE GOSPEL WAS PRINTED IN ROMANIAN).
The silver coins are housed in transparent plastic capsules and are accompanied by leaflets featuring a brief presentation of the numismatic issue in Romanian, English and French.
Each leaflet comes with a certificate of authenticity bearing the signatures of both the Governor and the Chief Cashier of the National Bank of Romania.
The mintage of this numismatic issue is 500.
The selling price of the silver coin, including the leaflet, is lei 360.00 excluding VAT.
The silver coins in the numismatic issue commemorating 450 years since the Gospel was printed in Romanian are legal tender on the territory of Romania.
The collector silver coins will be put into circulation through the branches of the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iaşi and Timişoara.