The new leu, Romanian currency

Romania, 2008 —

If you don't bring proper change into a Romanian shop, you will occasionally have to pay extra....

Romania devalued its currency in July of 2005, moving the decimal point four places to the left.

The new leu (RON) served in parallel with the old leu (ROL) until the end of 2006.

The vestige of the old leu is common in shops. People will often quote a price in old lei, sometimes reiterating the price in new lei as if they are still becoming accustomed to the newer valuation.

It is possible that one could misunderstand a request in the shorthand version of the old price — which sounds like ten times the price you're supposed to pay. That's because anything that now costs 7.20 lei — for example — was, in the old money, 72,000 lei — or "72."