The 10 bani banknote issued in 1917 by King Ferdinand I, and which entered the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest in the world, will be put on display at the Sighisoara History Museum as part of an exhibition marking the 160th anniversary of the king's birth.

'As we celebrate this year the 160th anniversary of King Ferdinand I's birth, we want to evoke this important moment in Romanian history by organizing a small exhibition where to present these banknotes issued in 1917. The Sighisoara History Museum also holds a numismatic collection that includes coins and banknotes from various historical periods, banknotes issued in what is today's Romania, as well as coins and paper money issued throughout the world. A large part of this collection comes from the old collection of the city's Evangelical Gymnasium, the current 'Joseph Haltrich' Theoretical High School. In this collection, our colleague Mircea Radu Iacob identified the world's smallest banknotes, minted during WWI. These are Romanian banknotes issued by the National Bank of Romania in 1917,' the director of the Sighisoara History Museum, Nicolae Tescula, told the press on Friday.

Mircea Radu Iacob, the museographer who discovered the banknote in the Sighisoara school's collection, explains that the law authorizing the minting, by the Finance Ministry, of 10, 25 and 50 bani banknotes was promulgated by King Ferdinand on June 9, 1917.

'The 10 bani banknote issued in 1917 replaced the 10 bani coin, which had been in use in Romania since 1867 and which was minted in England. This is the lowest value banknote issued in Romania, having been designed by Horatiu Sava Dimitriu. I looked it up in the World Records Book and found that the 10 bani banknote is the tiniest in the world,' Mircea Radu Iacob said.

The banknote was printed on white paper and on the obverse, represented on a brown-green-yellow background, are a floral design and circles, the face value '10', the frontal inscription 'ROMANIA' and below 'MINISTERUL FINANTELOR/THE FINANCE MINISTRY', and on the sides the year of issue - '1917'.

In the banknote body, a round medallion features the effigy of King Ferdinand, flanked by the royal cipher; displayed below is the face value '10 BANI', and on the left and right are the official positions and signatures. Outside the border at the left bottom is the inscription 'H. SAVA DUMITRU INV', and the reverse has the face value '10 BANI' inscribed on it, below Romania's coat of arms and the text of the counterfeit penalty arranged in 8 lines.

Outside the border is the inscription 'Serviciul Geografic al Armatei (Army Geographical Service)'.

The Romanian 10 bani banknote from 1917 carries no series, number or watermark.

Ferdinand I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was born on August 24, 1865 in Sigmaringen (Germany), and died on July 20, 1927 in Sinaia. AGERPRES (RO - author: Dorina Matis, editor: Irina Poenaru; EN - editor: Simona Klodnischi)