13.92 mm diameter, 1.224 g, 90% gold, reeded edge Obverse: year 2016, coat of arms of Romania, face value 10 LEI, ROMANIA, the top part of the mace of king Ferdinand I	Reverse: king Ferdinand, wearing the steel crown of Romania, inscription REGELE FERDINAND I meaning KING FERDINAND I Issuing date: 27th of December 2016 Mintage: 500 coins

About the Mace of King Ferdinand I of Romania

Data about King Ferdinand's mace can be found in [1] (where it appears under the name of the scepter of the "Nation Recompletion"): the piece is 700 mm long, with 110 mm statuettes, the sphere having a diameter of 105 mm. The mass is approximately 2 kg. Like Queen Maria's crown, King Ferdinand's mace was made in Paris by the jewelry house "Falize" [1]. The model was created by the Romanian painter Costin Petrescu. In [2] it is shown that the mace was actually manufactured in Paris by the jewelry company René Boivin (as the name RENE BOIVIN is inscribed on the mace, it is clear that Burda was mistaken in [1]). In [2] the mass of the object is given more precisely: the mace has 2.28 kg. The piece has a steel skeleton, being made mainly of gold and silver, and ornamented with enamel, pearls and spinels. Spinel is a magnesium aluminate with a crystalline structure, which can have different colors, and which is used as a gemstone. Above the globe there is an eagle's head holding a cross in its beak.

The idea of creating a mace for King Ferdinand came from Queen Marie [2]. The necessary funds were raised by an initiative committee led by Marin Ionescu, an important landowner from Ialomiţa County. The king received the mace in 1920, on National Day of Romania (10th of May). The king carried the mace at the Coronation of Alba Iulia in 1922, as well as on various other official occasions.

The four female statuettes holding hands and dressed in different national costumes certainly represent an allegory of Great Romania: Romania with her daughters, Basarabia [Bessarabia], Bucovina [Bukovina] and Ţara Ardealului [Transylvania]. In fact, the names of these four Romanian spaces are inscribed on the silver base on which the statuettes stand. The same four women also appear on the 20 lei 1930 - Allegory of Greater Romania coin.

The History of gold series comprises:
- a set of four pieces of 500 old lei featuring the golden cache of Pietroasa (2001),
- the following 100 old lei coins with

- the Dacian helmet of Poiana-Coţofeneşti (1999, 2002 and 2003),

- the eagle from Apahida (2003),

- a Cantacuzinian engolpion (2004),
- the following 10 new lei with

- the Perşinari Hoard (2005),

- the Cucuteni-Băiceni hoard (2006),

- the rhyton of Poroina (2007),

- the Hinova hoard (2008),

- the Someşeni hoard (2010),

- the buckle of Curtea de Argeş (2011),

- the cross from Dinogetia (2011),

- the patera from Pietroasa Hoard (2012),

- the Four Gospels of Hurezi Monastery (2013),

- two ancient gold coins struck at Histria (2014),

- the crown of queen Marie (2015),

- the mace of king Ferdinand (2016),

- the crown of queen Elisabeth (2017),

- the 10 ducats 1600 coin with Michael the Brave (2018),

- the 50 lei with year 1922 coin (2019),

- some late Roman gold artifacts discovered at Carsium (2020),

- the polygonal vessels from the Pietroasa hoard (2022),

- the princely diadem of Buneşti-Avereşti (2023),

- the Apahida hoard (2024).

References

1. Burda Ş., Tezaure de aur din România. Editura Meridiane, Bucureşti, 1979.

2. Ciornei Cr., Mariţiu Sabina, Buzduganul regelui Ferdinand I. Direcţia Emisiune, Tezaur şi Casierie, Imprimeria Băncii Naţionale a României, Bucureşti, 2016.