The putting of the Moldovan leu into circulation on November 29, 1993 is an important step for stabilizing the monetary and lending environments. The author of the design of the Moldovan lei is plastic artist Gheorghe Vrabie. Initially, there were introduced 1, 5 and 10 lei bills. There were two name variants for the national currency – leu and ducat. Until then the country used Soviet rubles and then coupons. The journey into the history of the national currency was conducted by Elena Mămăligă, a guide at the museum of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM), for a group of students who visited the central bank as par of the financial education event “The Road of Money”, IPN reports.
The NBM museum’s attraction is the commemorative coins devoted to personalities from different fields and coins that promote the national culture, traditions and customs. The commemorative coins are made of gold or silver, are issued in a limited number and are issued for numismatic purposes. Their face value is of 50 or 100 lei but there is also a commemorative coin with a face value of 1,000 lei, of the series “Historic Events” that is dedicated to Bessarabia’s Union with Romania.
The first commemorative coin was issued on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the proclaiming of the Republic of Moldova’s independence. In a period, there was issued the first set of 20 commemorative coins dedicated to Moldova’s monasteries. The museum also exhibits a set of three commemorative coins issued on the 30th anniversary of the proclaiming of the Republic of Moldova’s independence. The first gold coin issued by the NBM was devoted to Stephan the Great and Holy. There is also a series of coins dedicated to the Red Book of the Republic of Moldova, which urge to protect nature.
The money used as legal tender is periodically renewed by the central bank. The banknotes are being modernized and have their security level increased. Corneliu Crețu, head of the NBM’s Cash Operations Division, said that any bill has protection elements designed to prevent forging. The coins also contain safety elements and also an element intended for persons with visual impairments, a special edge. The coins of different face value have different thickness and diameter.
Nadejda Stratenco, branch director at a commercial bank, said that the persons who detect a forged bill must take it to the bank for being withdrawn from circulation. The forged banknotes are put into circulation through the agency of those who use cash, through markets and shops. It is very important for the people to have a responsible attitude to the owned money. The children should be taught to determine the sums of money and to use bank cards.
The NBM staged the 4th edition of the financial education event “The Road of Money” on October 28 within the project “Learn! Give sense to money”. The event was held on the occasion of World Savings Day that is celebrated each year on October 31.
