Romania 2016 Constantin A. Rosetti Bicentennial 100 Lei Gold Coin

Description:

Constantin Rosetti was a Romanian journalist and politician who founded Romania’s National Liberal Party. Born on June 2, 1816 in Bucharest, Rosetti studied at Saint Sava National College in 1832 and joined the army the following year, serving as an aide-de-camp of Muntenian Prince Alexandru D. Ghica. Rosetti resigned from his military position three years later and founded the National Theatre Bucharest, where he performed as an actor.

In 1842, Rosetti became the police chief of Pitesti, a city in south-central Romania located on the Arges River. He published a volume of poetry in 1843 entitled Hours of Contentment, one of his many contributions to Romanian literature. These also include several translations and political treatises.

Rosetti’s life took several major turns in the late 1840s; he married Maria Grant, the sister of British diplomat Effingham Grant, in 1847. The following year saw the Rosettis take a stand in the Wallachian Revolution of 1848, a radical liberal nationalist uprising in a historical southern Romanian region known as the Principality of Wallachia. Constantin Rosetti was arrested early during the uprising on accusations that he was plotting to kill Prince Gheorghe Bibescu. Rosetti was appointed to the post of police chief as the provisional government formed in June 1848 and soon became editor of Pruncul Român, a newspaper that arose in the wake of the Muntenian Revolution.

By September 1848, Ottoman imperial troops crushed the rebellion and placed several revolutionaries, including Constantin Rosetti, under arrest. His wife helped secure his release and they escaped to Paris.

They returned to Romania in 1861, and Rosetti ventured back onto the political scene in his homeland. He became Minister of Public Instruction in 1866 and for two days during July of that year served as temporary Prime Minister of Romania during a transitional period of national governance. Rosetti supported the forced abdication of Prince Alexander Ion Cuza of Wallachia, who was removed by a coalition of liberal and conservative Romanians who opposed his stances on landownership. Meanwhile, Rosetti went on to helm the Chamber of Deputies in 1877 and served as Minister of the Interior from 1881 to 1882.

Rosetti passed away on April 8, 1885. In addition to the 100-lei gold coin, his name is memorialized on a street in Bucharest (Strada C.A. Rosetti), a square (Piata Rosetti), and a high school.

Obverse:

The obverse of the 100-lei Romanian gold coin depicts the bas-relief design as seen at the base of the Rosetti monument in Piata Rosetti. The monument, designed by German architect W.C. Hegel, portrays Rosetti achieving the Union of the Romanian Principalities on January 24, 1859, which brought together the Principality of Wallachia and the Principality of Moldavia; the Principality of Transylvania would join on December 1, 1918, after the First World War. Today, these regions form the core of Romania.

Above the obverse design of the assembly are the words ROMANIA in an arc along the upper rim and below that in a horizontal line the coin’s denominational declaration, 100 LEI. The Romanian Coat of Arms superimposes the lower center of the design, and just above the crest sits the date 2016 in sunken relief.

Reverse:

The reverse of the 100-lei gold commemorative depicts a bust portrait of Rosetti looking just to the right of the viewer. He is shown in his older years fully bearded and wearing a formal suit, indicative of his notable political stature. In an arc along the top two-thirds of the rim is the inscription CONSTANTIN A. ROSETTI. Rosetti’s birth and death years flank his portrait, with the year 1816 on the left side of the coin and 1885 on its right.

Coin Specifications:

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