23 mm diameter, 5 g, copper 79%, zinc 20%, nickel 1%, grained edge denomination "10 lei", year 1930 and wing spread, crowned eagle holding cross in its beak, sword and scepter in its talons; on eagle's breast a shield displaying the crowned monogram of Carol II instead of Romania's coat of arms, outer pearl circle	the inscription "CAROL II REGELE ROMANILOR" meaning "KING OF THE ROMANIANS" and CAROL II head facing left, outer pearl circle. Under the neck lies A. LAVRILLIER, the engraver's name Mintage: 60.000.000 coins

Mints that struck 10 lei 1930 coins for king Carol II

The 10 lei coins struck in 1930 were minted in several mints. The coins struck in Paris (above) have a horn of plenty with coins pouring out of it (mint sign) on the left and a wing on the right as distinctive signs. The wing marks the chief engraver of the Parisian Mint, Lucien Bazor. There are pieces minted at Paris with sides facing either commonly (inverted) or the medal fashion (upright). At Heaton Birmingham were struck coins with the mint sign H near the year and at Royal Mint London coins without any distinctive sign (like the one on the next page). The ones struck in Birmingham at King's Norton Metal Company are marked with K N. The information about the fact that the coins without mint sign were struck at London is present on the site through the contribution of Mr. Cristian Ciuplea.

From the total number of 60.000.000 coins, 30.000.000 were struck at London pieces, 15 millions at Paris and the other 15 millions at Birmingham, 7.500.000 at Heaton and the same number at King's Norton.

In Monede şi Bancnote Româneşti (Romanian Coins and Banknotes, 1977) it is mentioned that the coins with H and without mint sign were struck both at "Heaton, London". But the coins struck at Heaton were (usually) marked by an H, and Heaton Mint functioned always at Birmingham, never at London. In conclusion, the use of the Heaton Mint name in this case is an error. The coins without mint sign were struck at Royal Mint London.

It is interesting to observe that the number of teeth on the edge differs from one mint to another. There are 113 teeth at the coins struck at London, 110 at those struck at Paris and 115 at the coins struck at King's Norton in Birmingham (we did not check the coins with H, struck at Heaton).

The Paris, Heaton and King's Norton coins pictures above are present on Romanian coins through the kind permission of an anonymous donor.