Bulgarian National Bank - Catalogue - Coins

Coins have been minted in the Bulgarian lands since deepest antiquity. Later, during the Second Bulgarian Empire, coins by Ivan Asen II (the beginning of 13th century) to Ivan Sracimir (in mid-14th century) are known. The Ottoman conquest put an end to Bulgarian minting for more than five centuries. Liberation found a chaotic exchange picture in Bulgaria, with a mosaic of foreign currencies circulating in local markets. The revived Bulgarian state had yet to devise a monetary system. Official accounts were kept in French francs, and due to the great gold to silver agio, remittances were in a variety of foreign silver coinage. The Bulgarian National Bank was established in 1879 and in the next year the Second Ordinary National Assembly voted the Minting Rights Act, granting the state exclusive rights to put into circulation coins. The Act also established the lev as the national currency, dividing it into a hundred sto-tinkas. Inspiration came from the Latin Monetary Union, with three types of coins being adopted: copper, silver, and gold. The very next year the first Bulgarian coins were minted in England: two, five and ten stotinkas in copper. Silver one and two levs coins were minted in Russia in 1882, and the first gold coins (10, 20, and 100 levs) came in 1894. The Coinage of the Principality Act of 1897 declared the golden lev as the unit of currency. The Lev and Money Supply Stabilisation Act of 1928 introduced the gold exchange standard. In various historical periods dependent on the issuing institution, the BNB as an independent institution or as a part of the Ministry of Finance placed Bulgarian coin issues with renowned European mints: those of Russia, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, France, Belgium, Germany and Yugoslavia. The foundation of the Bulgarian Mint in 1952 re-launched indigenous minting: first of exchange coinage; and later, since 1965, of commemorative issues. The BNB uses a variety of metals and alloys for coins: gold, silver, platinum, aluminium, copper/nickel, iron, etc. In their own way Bulgarian coins celebrate the times when they were minted and used as a means of payment. A mirror of national economic and historical development, they retain a trace of the nation's culture and heritage. This is the fourth revised edition of the Catalogue of Coins issued by the Bulgarian National Bank. Since 1990, when the first edition of the Catalogue saw light of day, its format has undergone significant changes. This is not only because each successive edition had ever better illustrations and carried details of newly issued coinage, but also because its very concept developed and improved as document study progressed. The authors acknowledge the significant contribution of the many letters which collectors and members of the public sent to the BNB Issue Department. This Catalogue attempts to answer their questions and rise to their recommendations through the manner of its structuring and in its attempt at completeness. The edition has the ambition to present predominantly actual-sized specimens of coins issued by Bulgaria's central bank during its entire existence (so-called curios are excluded). There are several reasons why we publish (with a few exceptions) specimens.