18 mm diameter, 2 g, 95% copper, 5% aluminum, grained edge denomination "3 BANI" and year 1953	Romanian coat of arms Mintage in 1953: 13.000.000 coins

These coins were struck at Bucharest Mint. The bronze used for these coins contains a small amount of aluminum (instead of zinc, as MBR claims).

The mintage programmed for 1954 was 33.400.000 pieces, but it was only partially executed. The actual number of issued 3 bani 1954 coins is unknown. However, the catalog prices are far higher for 3 bani 1954 - even 40-50 times higher - than the prices for 3 bani 1953 coin. The 3 bani 1954 coin is a key date, one of the rarest and hardest to find coins issued during the communist era.

The pictures of the 3 bani 1954 coin above are present on Romanian coins through the kind permission of Mr. Radu Lissner.

The pictures of the 3 bani 1953 coin above are present on Romanian coins through the kind permission of an anonymous donor.

The coins struck from 1953 on have a slight difference on the obverse. The communist inspired coat of arms got a red star atop of it in order to be more alike to the Soviet Union coat of arms. A similar change happened in the Czechoslovakian coat of arms approximately in the same period. See below the Soviet coat of arms and some other Soviet inspired coats of arms bearing the red star atop.