page_title: Romanian leu
section_title: First leu: 1867–1947
hierarchical_section_title: Romanian leu / History / First leu: 1867–1947
caption_attribution_description: Romanian 5 Lei coin
context_page_description: The Romanian leu is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 bani, a word that also means "money" in Romanian.
context_section_description: In 1860, the Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza attempted to create a national românul ("The Romanian") and the romanat; however, the project was not approved by the Ottoman Empire.
  On April 22, 1867, a bimetallic currency was adopted, with the leu equal to 5 grams of 83.5% silver or 0.29032 grams of gold. The first leu coin was minted in Romania in 1870.
  Before 1878 the silver Russian ruble was valued so highly as to drive the native coins out of circulation. Consequently, in 1889, Romania unilaterally joined the Latin Monetary Union and adopted a gold standard. Silver coins were legal tender only up to 50 lei. All taxes and customs dues were to be paid in gold and, owing to the small quantities issued from the Romanian mint, foreign gold coins were current, especially French 20-franc pieces (equal at par to 20 lei), Turkish gold lire (22.70), old Russian imperials (20.60) and British sovereigns (25.22).
  Romania left the gold standard in 1914 and the leu's value fell. The exchange rate was pegged at 167.20 lei to 1 U.S. dollar on February 7, 1929, 135.95 lei on November 5, 1936, 204.29 lei on May 18, 1940, and 187.48 Lei on March 31, 1941. During Romania's World War II alliance with Nazi Germany, the leu was pegged to the Reichsmark at a rate of 49.50 lei to 1 Reichsmark, falling to 59.5 lei in April 1941. During Soviet occupation, the exchange rate was 1 ruble to 100 lei. After the war, the value of the currency fell dramatically and the National Bank issued a new leu, which was worth 20,000 old lei.
caption: 5-lei coin minted in 1883
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