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20 000 Leva
| Issuer | Bulgarian National Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
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| Printer | Giesecke & Devrient |
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| Obverse description | This provisional issue is an overprint on the earlier 20,000 Leva note (Pick #33), set against an intricate guilloche underprint with the Bulgarian coat of arms positioned to the left. Validation of the note's provisional status is established through multiple handwritten signatures and official stamps applied across the face. Cyrillic inscriptions denote the issuing authority, denomination, and the roles of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and Cashier, along with the fiscal stamp notation and date. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | БЪЛГАРСКА НАРОДНА БАНКА ДВАДЕСЕТ ХИЛЯДИ ЛЕВА СОФИЯ УПРАВИТЕЛ ПОМОЩНИКЪ УПРАВИТЕЛЪ КАСИЕРЪ 20000 1922 ГЕРБОВА МАРКА 30 |
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| Comments |
Bulgaria emerged from the First World War on the losing side, stripped of territory and burdened by reparations under the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly. The resulting fiscal pressure forced rapid monetary expansion throughout the early 1920s, and denominations climbed sharply. The 20,000 Leva was an extraordinary face value for a country whose pre-war notes rarely cleared four digits.
Giesecke & Devrient had printed Bulgarian currency since before the war, and the Leipzig relationship continued uninterrupted through the postwar chaos — a notable continuity given that Germany itself was descending into its own hyperinflationary spiral at the same moment these sheets were being run.