Romania 2000 Lei banknote 1999 Solar eclipse
National Bank of Romania - Banca Națională a României
This banknote is made from polymer substrate. On the occasion of the Total Eclipse of the Sun (11th August 1999) and Entering the New Millennium, the National Bank of Romania issued the Lei 2000 note, the first polymer - based note in Europe and in the northern hemisphere.
Obverse: Romanian coat of arms. Simplified Solar System and depiction of the solar eclipse.
Reverse: Romanian flag within map outline of Romania. On the map, the area and the cities are marked, where the eclipse was the most visible.
Watermark: BNR logo.
Signatures: Mugur Constantin Isarescu (Governor).
Printer: Note Printing Australia. Date of Issue: 2 August 1999.
Original Size: 143 x 63 mm
Texts: Banca Nationala a Romaniei. Doua Mii Lei; Two Thousand Leu. Falsificarea acestor bilete se pedepseste conform legilor. Eclipsa Totala de Soare 11 August 1999.
Romanian Lei banknotes
1999 "Solar Eclipse" Commemorative Issue
2000 Lei
2000-2004 "Polymer" Issue
10000 Lei 50000 Lei 100000 Lei 500000 Lei 1000000 Lei
A total solar eclipse occurred on 11 August 1999 with an eclipse magnitude of 1.029. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide.
The path of the Moon's shadow began in the Atlantic Ocean and, before noon, was traversing the southern United Kingdom, northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, southern Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, and northern FR Yugoslavia (Vojvodina). Its maximum was at 11:03 UTC at 45.1°N 24.3°E in Romania (next to a town called Ocnele Mari near Râmnicu Vâlcea); and it continued across Bulgaria, the Black Sea, Turkey, Iran, southern Pakistan and Srikakulam in India and ended in the Bay of Bengal.
It was the first total eclipse visible from Europe since 22 July 1990, and the first visible in the United Kingdom since 29 June 1927.