BULGARIAN LEV

The 'lev' (, plural: лева, левове / ''leva, levove'') is the currency of Bulgaria. It is divided in 100 ''stotinki'' (стотинки, singular: ''stotinka'', стотинка). In archaic Bulgarian the word "lev" meant "lion", akin to the Romanian and Moldovan lei.

Contents

History

Coins

First lev

Second lev

Third lev

Fourth lev

Banknotes

First lev

Second lev

Third leva

Fourth leva

See also

References

External links

History

===First lev, 1881–1952===
The lev was introduced as Bulgaria's currency in 1881 and was at the time equal to the French franc. Until 1916, Bulgaria's silver and gold coins were issued to the same specifications as those of the Latin Monetary Union. Banknotes were issued until 1928 backed by both gold ("leva zlato" or "zlatni", "лева злато" or "златни") and silver ("leva srebro" or "srebarni", "лева сребро" or "сребърни").
After the First World War, inflation caused coins below 50 stotinki to cease being issued and denominations of coins up to 100 leva appeared in the 1930s. Except for one 10,000 leva zlatni issue in 1919, 5000 leva was the highest banknote denomination use. Coins ceased to be issued after 1943 with only banknotes issued until the currency reform of 1952.
===Second lev, 1952–62===
In 1952, following wartime inflation, a new lev replaced the original lev at a rate of 1 "new" lev = 100 "old" leva. Coins were issued in denominations between 1 stotinka and 1 lev, with banknotes in denominations between 1 and 200 leva. The first coins and all banknotes were dated 1951.
===Third lev, 1962–99===
In 1962, another redenomination took place at the rate of ten to one.
After this, the lev remained fairly stable for almost three decades. However, like other Communist countries' currencies, it was not freely convertible for Western funds. Therefore, while the official exchange rate was around 90 stotinki to the US dollar, black market rates were five to ten times higher.
Before the fall of Communism, coins were issued in denominations between 1 stotinka and 1 lev with notes between 1 and 20 leva. After the fall of Communism, Bulgaria experienced several episodes of drastic inflation and currency devaluation. During this period, coins were issued in denominations up to 50 leva and notes up to 50,000 leva.
In order to change this, in 1997 the lev was pegged to the Deutsche Mark (DEM), at rate of 1000 leva to 1 DEM.
===Fourth lev, 1999–present===
On July 5, 1999 the lev was redenominated at 1000:1 with 1 new lev equal to 1 Deutsche Mark. The ISO 4217 currency code for the new Bulgarian lev is BGN, while the code for the previous lev was BGL.
With the replacement of the Deutsche Mark by the Euro, the lev's peg effectively switched to the euro, at the rate of 1.95583 BGN = 1 EUR, which is the Deutsche Mark's fixed exchange rate to euro.

Since 1997, Bulgaria has been in a system of currency board and all Bulgarian currency in circulation has been backed 100% by the foreign exchange reserves of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). The rate is unlikely to change before the lev's retirement. On 25 April, 2005, when Bulgaria's EU accession treaty was signed, the BNB issued a commemorative coin with the face value of 1.95583 leva. The lev is expected to be replaced by the euro on 1 January 2010.

Coins

First lev

Between 1881 and 1884, bronze 2, 5 and 20 stotinki, and silver 50 stotinki, 1, 2 and 5 leva were introduced, followed, in 1888, by cupro-nickel 2½, 5, 10 and 20 stotinki. Gold 10 and 20 leva were issued in 1894. Bronze 1 stotinka were introduced in 1901.
Production of silver coins ceased in 1916, with zinc replacing cupro-nickel in the 5, 10 and 20 stotinki in 1917. In 1923, aluminium 1 and 2 leva coins were introduced, followed by cupro-nickel pieces in 1925. In 1930, cupro-nickel 5 and 10 leva and silver 20, 50 and 100 leva were introduced, with silver coins issued until 1937, in which year aluminium-bronze 50 stotinki were issued.
In 1940, cupro-nickel 20 and 50 leva were issued, followed, in 1941, by iron 1, 2, 5 and 10 leva. In 1943, nickel-clad-steel 5, 10 and 50 leva were struck. These were the last coins issued for this version of the lev.

Second lev

In 1952, coins (dated 1951) were introduced in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10 and 25 stotinki, with the lower three denominations in brass and the higher three in cupro-nickel. Cupro-nickel 20 stotinki dated 1952 were also issued, followed by 50 stotinki in 1959 and 1 lev in 1960 (both also in cupro-nickel).

Third lev

In 1962, brass 1, 2 and 5 stotinki, and nickel-brass 10, 20 and 50 stotinki and 1 lev were introduced.

Communist era coins
Image	Denomination	Diameter	Weight	Composition	Obverse	Reverse	Minted Year
	1 stotinka	15.2 mm	1 g	Brass	Coat of Arms	Denomination and date	1962-90
2 stotinki	2 stotinki	18.1 mm	2 g
5 stotinki	5 stotinki	22.35 mm	3.1 g
10 stotinki	10 stotinki	17.1 mm	1.8 g	Nickel-brass
20 stotinki	20 stotinki	21.2 mm	2.9 g
	50 stotinki	23.3 mm	4.2 g
1 lev	1 lev	??	??

In 1992, a new coinage was introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 stotinki, 1, 2, 5 and 10 leva. All were struck in nickel-brass except for the cupro-nickel 10 leva. In 1997, nickel-brass 10, 20 and 50 leva were introduced.

Fourth lev

In 1999, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 stotinki and 1 lev were introduced. The 1 and 2 stotinki are struck in brass, the 5 stotinki in bronze and the 10, 20 and 50 stotinki in cupro-nickel. The 1 leva coins are bimetallic.

Banknotes

First lev

In 1885, the Bulgarian National Bank introduced notes for 20 and 50 gold leva, followed in 1887 by 100 gold leva and, in 1890, by 5 and 10 gold leva notes. In 1899, 5, 10 and 50 silver leva notes were issued, followed by 100 and 500 silver leva in 1906 and 1907, respectively. 500 gold leva notes were also introduced in 1907.
In 1916, 1 and 2 silver leva and 1000 gold leva notes were introduced, followed by 2500 and 10,000 gold leva notes in 1919. In 1924, 5000 leva notes were issued, the first to lack a metal designation. In 1928, a new series of notes (dated 1922 and 1925) was introduced which gave the denominations solely in leva. Denominations introduced were 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 leva. These were followed in 1929 by 200 and 250 leva.
In 1930, coins up to 100 leva replaced notes, although 20 leva notes were issued between 1943 and 1950. Between 1943 and 1945, State Treasury Bills for 1000 and 5000 leva were issued.

Second lev

In 1952, state notes (dated 1951) were issued in 1, 3 and 5 leva, together with notes of the National Bank for 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 leva. 500 leva notes were printed but not issued.

Third leva

In 1962, the National Bank issued notes for 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 leva. A second series, in the same denominations, was issued in 1974. 50 leva notes were introduced in 1990. After the fall of the communist regime, new notes were introduced for 20, 50, 100 and 200 leva. These were followed by 500 leva notes in 1993, 1000 and 2000 leva in 1994, 500 and 10,000 leva in 1996, and 50,000 leva in 1997.

Fourth leva

In 1999, banknotes were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 leva. 100 leva notes were added in 2003.

1999 series [1]
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description			Date of printing	Remark
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark
		1 lev	112 × 60 mm	Red	Ivan Rilski	Rila Monastery	Rampant lion	1999	Rarely seen in circulation, replaced by coin
		2 leva	116 × 64 mm	Violet	Paisiy Hilendarski	Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya		1999, 2005
		5 leva	121 × 67 mm	Red	Ivan Milev	Paintings by Ivan Milev		1999
		10 leva	126 × 70 mm	Green	Petar Beron	Astronomical instruments			This design was also used for the 10,000 BGL (third leva) banknote
		20 leva	131 × 73 mm	Blue	Stefan Stambolov	Orlov most, Lavov most			The most common banknote produced by ATMs
		50 leva	136 × 76 mm	Brown	Pencho Slaveykov	Poems by Pencho Slaveykov		1999, 2006
		100 leva	141 × 79 mm	Green	Aleko Konstantinov	Aleko Konstantinov		2003

See also

★ Currencies related to the euro

★ Bulgarian euro coins

★ Economy of Bulgaria

References

★

★

External links

★ Currency in Bulgaria, from Bulgarian-Guide.com

★ Bulgarian Banknotes