? mm, brass, ~7 g face value 5 lei, outer pearl circle	inner pearl circle, inscription DANUBIANA and the coat of arms of DANUBIANA - shield with Saint George killing the dragon, with a mural crown with three turrets atop

The coat of arms of the DANUBIANA society - shield with Saint George slaying the dragon, stamped by a mural crown with three towers - refers directly to the coat of arms of the city of Giurgiu. There is a possibility that this coat of arms was used before 1931, because the first modern coat of arms of the city of Giurgiu was fixed in 1931 [3]. On the coat of arms of 1931 the shield was stamped by a mural crown with five towers. The last version of the coat of arms of the Giurgiu municipality was introduced in 2003.

The Romanian Anonymous Society (S.A.R.) Danubiana was founded in 1914. The constitutive act of the company was published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 125 from 3rd of September 1914 [5]. The founding members were: Mărăşeşti Sugar Factory and Refinery, The General Society of Sugar Refinery Factories in Romania (Societé Générale de Sucreries et Raffineries en Roumanie, limited liability company based in Belgium, at Bruxelles, who owned the factories at Sascut and at Roman), Sugar Factory and Refinery Chitila Bucharest, V.(Dupont) Mullassons et Co. (limited liability partnership in Ripiceni), Romanian General Bank in Bucharest and three private persons. Danubiana was the owner of the Giurgiu sugar factory. Its construction started in 1914. The World War disorganized all Romanian industry. The construction of the Giurgiu factory, interrupted by the war, was resumed in 1919, being finished in 1922 [6]. In 1923, Danubiana bought the sugar factories in Roman and Sascut [1], [6]. (After [2], the sugar factory in Sascut belonged to the Danubiana company between 1927 and 1930.) Most probably the company's coat of arms was established during the period when it only owned the Giurgiu factory, namely between 1919 and 1923.

In the post-war period, the sale of the products of the 12 sugar factories in Greater Romania was done by the Sugar Sales Office, a state body [6].

In 2023, a wooden crate inscribed SOCIETATEA DANUBIANA / FABRICI ŞI RAFINĂRII / ROMAN / GIURGIU was put up for sale on the Internet. Also in 2023, a box of 5 kg of cubic sugar was for sale on the Internet. The bow is inscribed with SOCIETATEA DANUBIANA / Sugar Refineries / ROMAN-GIURGIU SASCUT. Images of the three factories appear on the box, and in addition the coat of arms that is used on the token. Such a box can be seen here [4].

Judging by the face value - 5 lei - the token was issued and used during the interwar period. It is not clear if it was used at the Danubiana factory in Giurgiu, at the one at Roman or at the one at Sascut, or at two of them, or even at all three. Similar tokens with face values of 1 leu and 2 lei also exist.

References

1. Bălăiţă D., File din istoria industriei de zahăr din România. Jetoanele fabricii de zahăr din Sascut. Anuarul Muzeului Bucovinei, XLIII, Editura Universităţii Ştefan cel Mare din Suceava, Suceava, 2016.

2. Bibire R., Amarul gust al zahărului, 2009.

3. Dogaru Maria, Din heraldica României. Album. Editura JIF, Bucureşti, 1994.

4. Blog-ul Îmi pasă. Aşa cum a fost. România de-altădată. Înscrisuri de toate felurile (XVIII).

5. * * *, Monitorul Oficial al României, nr. 125 din 3 septembrie 1914.

6. * * *, Industria zaharului în România. Câteva date monografice asupra fabricilor din ţară. Rolul Oficiului de zahăr. Almanach Argus, 1927, p. 337.