Five hundred lei


The five hundred lei banknote is the highest of the circulating denomination of the Romanian leu. It is the same size as the 200 Euro banknote.
The main color of the banknote is gray. It pictures, on the obverse poet Mihai Eminescu, and on the reverse the ”Mihai Eminescu” Central University Library of Iași, and the front page of the Timpul newspaper.

History

In the past, the denomination was also in the coin form, as follows:
First leu
  • banknote issues: 1877, 1916, 1924, 1934, 1936, 1940
  • coin issues: 1941, 1944banknote issue: 1944
  • coin issues: 1945, 1946
Second leu
  • banknote issues: 1947, 1949
Third leu - ROL
  • banknote issues: 1991, 1992
  • coin issues: 1999, 2000
Fourth leu - RON
  • banknote issue: 2005