The ten-bani coin is a coin of the

Romanian leu The Romanian leu (, plural lei ; ISO code: RON; numeric code: 946) is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 (, singular: ), a word that also means "money" in the Romanian language. Etymology The name of the currency means "lio ...

. It was reintroduced on 1 July 2005 and is the second-largest denomination coin in Romania. In addition to Romania, it has been minted in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(1867),

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

(1900, 1905-1906),

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(1906) and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(1952).

History

Principality of Romania

The first ten-bani coin was struck in 1867 by two different mints in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

: Heaton and Watt & Co. The coin measured 30mm in diameter and weighed 10g. It was composed of 95%

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

, 4%

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

and 1%

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

. The obverse featured the name of the country and its coat of arms. The reverse featured the denomination within a laurel branch and oak

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

. The denomination within the wreath read ''10 BANI'' and 1867. Each mint struck 12.5 million of the coin. Watt & Co. used the

mintmark A mint mark is a letter, symbol or an inscription on a coin indicating the mint where the coin was produced. It is distinct from a mintmaster mark, the mark of the mintmaster. History Mint marks were first developed to locate a problem. If a co ...

''WATT & Co'' below the wreath while Heaton used one of ''HEATON''. The coins entered circulation on 1 January 1868.

Kingdom of Romania

A second ten-bani coin was struck only in 1900, in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. It measured 19mm in diameter and weighed 3.5g. It was made of 75% copper and 25%

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

. Its obverse featured the crown of Romania above the date within a wreath of a laurel branch and oak branch. The reverse featured the denomination and name of the country. A total of 15 million were issued. Coin Romania 10 bani 1905

The third ten-bani coin entered circulation in 1905 and also saw issue the following year. Although the same diameter and composition, it weighed 0.5g less (4g) due to a hole through the centre. On the obverse, the crown was placed above the hole and the name of the country was written on a scroll underneath. The reverse featured the denomination at the top, a rose on each side of the middle and the year at the bottom. The coins were designed by Anton Scharff, chief engraver at the Austrian Mint in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. The 10.82 million coins of 1905 were minted exclusively at Brussels while in 1906 17 million from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

supplemented 24.18 million from Brussels. The Hamburg-struck coins feature a 'J' mintmark below the scroll on the obverse while those of Brussels are without a mintmark.

People's Republic of Romania

The denomination returned in 1952 under communist rule. The new coin was 17.5mm in diameter and weighed 1.8g. It was composed of 80% copper and 10%%

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

. The obverse featured Romania's communist coat of arms with the inscription around of ''REPUBLICA POPULARA ROMANA'' (Romanian People's Republic). The reverse had the denomination and year in plain type in an oak wreath. The coin was struck in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in Soviet

and 37.9 million were issued in 1952. In 1953 a star was added to the top of the coat of arms to make them similar to those of other communist nations and minting switched to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Romania's capital, which produced 1.6 million. While the weight remained the same, 0.5mm was taken off the diameter. The coins minted in 1955 and 1956 were 17.5mm, and the inscription used the word ''ROMINA'' instead of ''ROMANA''. In 1955 4.1 million were minted and the following year 18.4 million.

Post-People's Republic

In the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

(proclaimed 1965) ten-bani coins were replaced with fifteen-bani coins. Following the return of democracy to Romania in 1990, hyperinflation took place which made bani coins obsolete. However, on 1 July 2005, Romania redenominated its currency at 10,000 old lei to 1 new leu. The 1,000 lei coin, in use since 2000, was replaced by the new ten-bani. Early issues of the coin, from its first year 2005, have a diameter 0.1mm narrower than the official measurements.http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/display.php?image=img13/148-10b05&desc=Romania km191 10 Bani (2005) 20.4mm&query=Romania

References

{{Romanian currency and coinage Coins of Romania Ten-cent coins