37 mm diameter, 31.103 g, 99.9% silver, reeded edge Obverse: coat of arms of Romania, year 2009, face value "10 LEI", ROMANIA, „Călugăreni” locomotive leaving from Filaret Station (Bucharest) - contemporary picture	Reverse: an image of Bucharest at the middle of the 19th century, the tower from Giurgiu, the first Bucharest-Giurgiu train, inscription "140 DE ANI DE LA INAUGURAREA LINIEI DE CALE FERATĂ" "BUCURESTI" "GIURGIU" meaning "140 YEARS FROM THE INAUGURATION OF THE BUCHAREST - GIURGIU RAILWAY" Issuing date: 5th of August 2009 Mintage: 500 coins

About the first railway from Romania

The British company "John Trevor Barclay and John Staniforth" obtained in September 1865 a concession for the construction of the railway between Bucharest and Giurgiu. The lease, renewed by Ion Ghica government in August 1866, was finally signed in April 1867. Other routes for railways were leased to several foreign companies consortia in 1868.

On October 19th 1869 (October 31th New Style) the Bucharest-Giurgiu railway was oficially inaugurated, through the departure of the first train from Filaret Station from Bucharest.

In December 1869 was finished the railway between Iţcani (nowadays part of the Suceava city) - Roman, and in June 1870 the railway between Paşcani and Iaşi. (information excerpted from Istoria României în date [Romania's History in Dates], Editura Enciclopedică Română [Romanian Ecyclopedic Printing House], Bucharest, 1971, book issued under the supervision of historian Constantin C. Giurescu)

It must be mentioned that Bucharest-Giurgiu railway was the first railway of the Romania of the 1870 years (after the Union of the Romanian Principalities until the Independence War Romania was comprised from Walachia and from Moldavia between mountains and Prut River - the last without Bucovina - enthralled by the Austrians - and from the counties of Cahul, Bolgrad and Ismail from the southern Basarabia, returned after the Crimean War). But this was not the first railway on the nowadays territory of Romania: the Oraviţa - Baziaş railway functioned in Banat already in 1854, and Constanţa - Cernavodă railway was built in Dobrogea in 1860.

On the coin is represented the locomotive Călugăreni, one of the first engines used on Bucharest-Giurgiu railway. In that time the custom was to baptize each engine with its own name.

The 10 lei 2009 coin pictures above are present on the site through the permission of an anonymous donor. These pictures, like all other pictures displayed on Romanian coins / Monede româneşti, cannot be used in any circumstances to illustrate auctions or sales and cannot be posted on other web page without the permission of the owner.