National Bank of Romania's description of 500,000 Lei bank note (S5)

500,000 lei banknote—issue October 2000

Characteristics

Size: 165 x 76 mm.

Main colours, both sides: yellow, green and orange.

Intaglio printed, both sides, on polymer.

Obverse

Portrait of Aurel Vlaicu, Romanian engineer, inventor, pilot and airplane builder. Centered, Edelweiss flower (Leontopodium alpinum) and an edited airplane propeller. Upper, Romanian Coat of Arms, name of National Bank of Romania "BANCA NAŢIONALĂ A ROMÂNIEI", NBR medallion. Down banknote denomination in figures and letters "500.000 lei CINCI SUTE MII". Left, authorized signatures of Governor, Chief Cashier and issuing year "2000". Vertically, right, denomination "CINCI SUTE MII 500.000".

Reverse

Center: Mountain eagle head (Aquila chrysaetos). On the left, "Vlaicu II" airplane design. Behind, "Gnome" engine sketch. Up: denomination value "500.000" vertically and horizontally, name of National Bank of Romania "BANCA NAŢIONALĂ A ROMÂNIEI" and NBR logo. Down, right: denomination value in figures and letters "CINCI SUTE MII lei 500.000"; left, sign for visual impaired: NBR logo within a rectangle. Right from the transparent window, penalty text, vertically: "FALSIFICAREA ACESTOR BILETE SE PEDEPSEŞTE CONFORM LEGILOR" (FORGERY IS PUNISHED ACCORDING TO THE LAW). Serial number, black, vertically, on the left side; serial number, red, increasing characters, horizontally, on the right side.

Security features

Transparent window: Clear, unprinted area on left of the obverse, can be observed also from both sides; within transparent window it is embossed the denomination value "500000".

Shadow image: Above the transparent window, portrait and NBR logo, both visible when the note is held up to the light.

Perfect register: Different elements of a compass (located on obverse above the edelweiss flower) are printed on both sides of the note. When the banknote is held up to the light, both figures match perfectly.

Latent image: Golden area printed in white with "NBR" letters on the right side of the obverse; when the note is tilted, the image of the Băneşti monument appears in transparent white.

Sign for visual impaired: on reverse, NBR logo within a rectangle.

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The design of this note is protected by registration with the Romanian State Office for Trade Marks (OSIM). Any color 1:1 reproduction must be done with the previous written permission of NBR. Forgery or attempted forgery will be punished, according to the Romanian Criminal Code - Art. 282, with 3 to 12 years jail.