Item: i96081

Authentic Coin of:

Romania under Carol II - King: 8 June 1930 - 6 September 1940
 1932 Silver 100 Lei 30mm (13.99 grams) 0.500 Silver (0.2251 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 52 | Engraver: André-Marie Lavrillier
CAROL II REGELE ROMANILOR A. LAVRILLIER 1932, Carol facing right.
100 LEI, Crowned eagle divides wreath.

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Carol II (3 October 1893 – 4 April 1953) reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until his abdication on 6 September 1940. He was the eldest son of Ferdinand I and became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I in 1914. He was the first of the Hohenzollern kings of Romania to be born in the country; both of his predecessors had been born in Germany and only came to Romania as adults. As such, he was the first member of the Romanian branch of the Hohenzollerns who spoke Romanian as his first language, and was also the first member of the royal family to be raised in the Orthodox faith. Carol was also a fan of football, being the Romanian Football Federation's president for almost one year from 1924 until 1925.

Carol's first controversy was his desertion from the army during World War I followed by his marriage to Zizi Lambrino, which resulted in two attempts to give up the rights of succession to the royal crown of Romania, refused by King Ferdinand. After the dissolution of his marriage, he made a long journey around the world, at the end of which he met Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark, daughter of King Constantine I of Greece. They married in March 1921, having a child in the same year, Prince Michael. His continued affairs with Elena Lupescu obliged him to renounce his succession rights in 1925 and leave the country. His name was removed from the royal house of Romania by King Ferdinand. Carol moved to France with Lupescu, under the name Carol Caraiman. Michael inherited the throne on the death of King Ferdinand in 1927. Princess Helen eventually divorced Carol in 1928.

In the political crisis created by the deaths of Ferdinand I and Ion I.C. Brătianu, as well as the ineffective regency of Prince Nicholas of Romania, Miron Cristea and Gheorghe Buzdugan. Carol was allowed to return to Romania in 1930 and his name was restored by the royal house of Romania, dethroning his own son. His reign was marked at the beginning by the effects of the great economic and financial crisis. Carol II weakened the party system, often appointing minority factions of historical parties to the government and attempting to form nationally concentrated governments, such as the Iorga-Argetoianu government. He also allowed the formation of a corrupt chamber around him, under the patronage of Elena Lupescu. Taking advantage of the political crisis of the December 1937 elections, where no party achieved an absolute majority and a coalition couldn't be formed due to disagreements between the National Liberal Party and those that could have formed a majority with them, the National Peasants Party and the Iron Guard, Carol established a royal dictatorship in 1938 by removing the 1923 constitution and abolishing the political parties, replaced by a single party, the National Renaissance Front, mostly composed of former members of the National Peasants Party and National Christian Party patronized by the king. The National Renaissance Front was the last of several attempts to counter the popularity of the fascist Iron Guard.

Following the start of World War II, Carol II reaffirmed the Polish–Romanian Alliance, the military assistance was however declined by Poland, who wished to follow the Romanian Bridgehead plan that required a neutral Romania. Following the fall of Poland and the involvement of the USSR, Carol II maintained a neutrality policy. After the fall of France, Carol II's policy changed towards re-alignment with Nazi Germany in hopes of gaining a German guarantee. He was however not aware of the secret clauses of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact that would see Romania lose significant parts of its territory. The year 1940 marked the fragmentation of Greater Romania by the loss of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to USSR, Northern Transylvania to Hungary and Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria. Although a German guarantee was finally achieved, the situation had a disastrous effect on the reputation of King Carol II. The reorientation of Romania's foreign policy towards Nazi Germany could not save King Carol II's regime, who was forced to abdicate by General Ion Antonescu, newly appointed prime minister. And was succeeded by his son Michael. He was allowed to leave the country with a special train loaded with fortunes, an assassination attempt was made by the Iron Guard, who fired on the train. After World War II, Carol II wanted to return to the helm of the country and dethrone his son again, but was stopped by the Western Allies. He eventually married Elena Lupescu and died in exile.

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east. It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate. With a total area of 238,397 square kilometres (92,046 sq mi), Romania is the 12th largest country and also the 7th most populous member state of the European Union, having almost 20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest and other major urban areas include Iași, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, and Constanța.

The River Danube, Europe's second-longest river, rises in Germany's Black Forest and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km (1,775 mi), coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romania's Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest, include Moldoveanu Peak, at an altitude of 2,544 m (8,346 ft).

Modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Banat, Bukovina, and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. During World War II, Romania was an Axis power and, consequently, an ally of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union, fighting side by side with the Wehrmacht until 1944, when it joined the Allies and faced occupation by the Red Army's forces. Throughout wartime Romania had lost several territories, of which only Northern Transylvania was regained after the war. Following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition towards democracy and a capitalist market economy.

The sovereign state of Romania is a developing country and ranks 52nd in the Human Development Index. It has the world's 47th largest economy by nominal GDP and an annual economic growth rate of 7% (2017), the highest in the EU at the time. Following rapid economic growth in the early 2000s, Romania has an economy predominantly based on services, and is a producer and net exporter of machines and electric energy, featuring companies like Automobile Dacia and OMV Petrom. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, part of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. An overwhelming majority of the population identifies themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are native speakers of Romanian, a Romance language.