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100 Leva Travelers Cheque
| Issuer | Българска Външнотърговска Банка (Bulgarian Foreign Trade Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Third lev (1962-1999) |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of the Bulgarian National Bank building, with trilingual text block in Bulgarian, Russian, and French. The issuer name БЪЛГАРСКА ВЪНШНОТЪРГОВСКА БАНКА appears at top and bottom. Denomination stated as СТО ЛЕВА / СТО ЛЕВОВ / CENT LEVA in each respective language section. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Reverse shows bleed-through of the obverse text and vignette visible through the paper, with two circular punch cancellation holes at top. A red serial number is printed at right center. The surface is otherwise plain, with no independent design elements. |
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| Comments |
The Bulgarian Foreign Trade Bank — Българска Външнотърговска Банка — held a monopoly on foreign currency transactions in the People's Republic of Bulgaria, making it the only institution legally empowered to issue travelers cheques for use by citizens traveling abroad under state-sanctioned schemes. These cheques circulated in a tightly controlled parallel economy, distinct from the domestic lev system, and were not freely convertible by ordinary Bulgarians.
Travelers cheques of this type were frequently used in Corecom hard-currency shops, where access to foreign or quasi-foreign instruments bypassed standard socialist retail rationing.