BEHIND THE SCENES

THE VERY FIRST PHONECARDS USED IN RUMANIA

The first public issue in Rumania was a chip card commonly called Timisoara like the name of the town where it was used; but some months before some cards with a simple design had been tested for a short time inside Bucuresti Otopeni airport, and they are now badly sought after by collectors.

Issued in 1993 by Telefonica Romania, a joint-venture between a rumanian company and a spanish one, these are the very first cards used in Rumania. The cards were exactly the same concerning their design, but they had three different hand-written values, 3, 5 and 10 units, and they were used inside Bucuresti Otopeni airport with a single installed phone, just for a very short time.
The cards are made with light cardboard, and a thin magstripe is present on back; the face value was hand-written on them each time by the telephone operator.
These cards should be considered real tests, but the results didn't satisfy, and the trial ended almost at once.
These cards have a high value, according to us not less than 200 euros for the 3 units card, up to 400 euros for the 10 units.
The first public card was issued again in 1993, this time it is a chip card by Romtelecom company, still active there.
Just 1,000 cards were produced, to be used only inside a Post Office in rumanian town Timisoara.
But its face value - about 25 euros - was too high for the social conditions of those years, and only a few cards were really used by common people; in fact Romtelecom decided to withdraw the remaining cards, giving back the money to the people that returned them.
For this reason, the card mint, sealed in bag, is extremely rare, and its value, in our opinion, could reach 300 euros.
Even used cards are quite difficult to get, so we think they coul be valued not less than 150 euros.

RUMANIAN RARITIES

The three cards shown here are commonly considered, and often sold, as test cards: according to our information, these cards indeed have been sold to the public, even if for a very short period.
The first one (on top) was sold only in Bucuresti, and it has a rough and matt surface, really not a beautiful card: its value is about 40-60 euros.
The second card (central) was sold in the whole region of Bucuresti, just for a few days, and it has a shiny and glossy surface. It is actually valued 50-70 euros.
At last, the third card (on bottom) was sold for few days only in Costinesti town, and with this name the card is commonly known among collectors. This is surely the most rare, its market value being over 100 euros, and going higher and higher, as this card is almost impossible to get now.