New Money

In July 2005, Romania adjusted their currency by dropping four zeros from their money.

In 2004 (the last time I was in Romania), the exchange rate was 34,000 lei (pronounced “lay”) to the US dollar, a loaf of bread cost about 15,000 lei, and there were bills of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, and 1,000,000 lei. There were also coins of 100, 500, 1,000, and 5,000 lei.

The new design and value of the new Romanian Lei is to prepare Romania for the eventual use of the Euro, which is scheduled for release on January 1, 2014. With the RON system, there are bills of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500 lei, and coins for 1, 5, 10, and 50 bani.

Romanians are pretty much adjusted to the new currency, but for me it is brand new. At first I was trying to convert from old lei to new lei, which is harder than you’d think. It would be convenient to drop 3 zeros (one hundred thousand would become one hundred), but with 4, it makes it harder (one hundred thousand becomes ten). I went shopping today and the bill was 61.50 lei. In the old system, that would have been 615,000. I think it will just be easier to divide the amount in lei by 3, getting the dollar amount. (My purchase today was about 21 dollars.)

The images below are of the old 1,000,000 lei banknote and its replacement – the new 100 lei banknote – worth about $33 (US).


The new 100 lei note (like its 1 million lei predecessor) features Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912), a noted author, playwright and short story writer. Learn more about Romanian currency by visiting this website.