37 mm diameter, 31.103 g, 99.9% silver, reeded edge Obverse: ROMANIA, year 2025, coat of arms of Romania, face value 10 LEI, an image inspired by the film based on the story "Dumbrava minunată" ("The Enchanted Grove") by Sadoveanu; in the foreground, as silhouettes, are Lizuca and her dog Patrocle; three elements of the drawing are made in color	Reverse: bust of Mihail Sadoveanu, inscription MIHAIL SADOVEANU 1880 - 1961 Issuing date: 15th of December 2025 Maximum mintage: 5000 coins

The opportunity of the coin

Mihail Sadoveanu is a character of gigantic stature in Romanian culture, a prolific prose writer, a theater man (he was director of the National Theater in Iași), a journalist, a leading freemason, not necessarily a politician but a man with impact and connections in high politics. Paying homage to Sadoveanu's personality by minting a coin is more than appropriate.

In the context of the issuance of a large number of commemorative coins by the National Bank of Romania, the appearance of a coin dedicated to Sadoveanu only in 2025 can be considered as very late. However, the number of years celebrated cannot fail to catch the eye: 145. We cannot think of a reason why the coin had to be issued in 2025 and why it could not have been minted in 2030, exactly 150 years after the birth of Mihail Sadoveanu.

His literary work is marked by novels evoking historical eras and personalities - "Frații Jderi", "Neamul Șoimăreștilor", "Zodia Cancerului sau vremea Ducăi-Vodă", "Nicoară Potcoavă". Other reference books are Baltagul, Creanga de aur, Hanul Ancuței, Viața lui Ștefan cel Mare, Nada Florilor.

Design of the coin

The obverse of the coin evokes a scene from the film "Dumbrava minunată" ("The Enchanted Grove"). Of course, the film is inspired by the writing "Dumbrava minunată", published in 1926. Considering the generous palette of great literary productions of Sadoveanu available for inspiration, the choice of a scene from "Dumbrava minunată" for the only coin dedicated to Sadoveanu is incomprehensible. It is as if the only coin dedicated to the national consciousness of Romanians - poet Mihai Eminescu - was illustrated with a scene from the poem "Somnoroase păsărele" ("Sleepy Little Birds").

Another failure is the huge uncertain surface on the obverse, which one would hardly say that represents an image from the grove. Something more meaningful could have been found.

The red flower on the right of the obverse is certainly one of the wild poppies in the dwarf princess's wreath.

The blue flower on the left must be that "tall straw bell", in which one of the dwarfs put a firefly to have a lantern to light his way to Lizuca's grandparents' house. The yellowish mushrooms appear, along with the flowers, as decorations in the movie.

Lizuca's silhouette on the coin is taken from the film "Dumbrava minunată" ("The Enchanted Grove"), which was launched in 1980. The little girl is dressed in a "little coat" and has put on her "beret" (which, in the film, has a characteristic tassel). Since only a silhouette appears on the coin, the result of the copy evokes an old woman with a skirt and a bun rather than a little girl of a few years old. The role of Lizuca was played by Diana Muscă. The actress thus enters the very short list of people who can be identified on Romanian commemorative coins and who are alive.

The dog Patroclus is a "red-haired basset", a small dog with short legs, which when hunting enters burrows to chase away foxes or badgers.

On the Sadoveanu's footsteps

Between 1918 and 1936, Mihail Sadoveanu lived in Iași, in a house built in 1842 by Mihail Kogălniceanu.

In 1954, the house was transferred to the Agronomic Institute of Iași (since 2021, the "Ion Ionescu de la Brad" University of Life Sciences in Iași). Professor Vladimir Homutescu, a refugee from the Faculty of Agronomy in Chișinău, was offered to move into Sadoveanu's former residence as staff housing. At that time, the house was outside the city, beyond the "Tîrgușorul Copou" barrier. The family visited the place and the offer was rejected. Professor Homutescu (later dean of the Faculty of Horticulture) was frightened by how much wood would be needed for heating during the winter, and his wife Nina thought that the place was too far from the high school where the children Adrian and Virgil studied.

The museum was founded in 1980. Currently (January 2026) it is closed for restoration. Currently the reopening date is not known.

In the last part of his life, Mihail Sadoveanu lived during the summer at the Neamț Monastery, in a beautiful house not far from the monastery, close to the Vovidenia hermitage. The house had been built in 1937 for Metropolitan Visarion Puiu. Since 1966, the house has become a museum dedicated to the great writer.

On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of his birth, the Writers' Union of (Republic of) Moldova paid tribute to Sadoveanu, placing a memorial plaque at the entrance to the headquarters.