Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
500 Leva
| Issuer | Bulgarian National Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | First lev (1881-1952) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Петстотин Лева Българската Народна Банка Плаща Предявителю София 1922 г. (Translation: Five Hundred Leva The Bulgarian National Bank Pays the Bearer Sofia 1922 y.) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Петстотин Лева Banque Nationale de Bulgarie За подправка виновните се наказват сѫгласно чл. 183 и 191 от наказателния закон. (Translation: Five Hundred Leva Banque Nationale de Bulgarie For forgery the guilty are punished according Art. 183 and 191 of the criminal law) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Bulgaria contracted the American Bank Note Company for this series following the disruption to European printing infrastructure after World War One — by the early 1920s, ABNC was handling currency work for several states that could no longer rely on their pre-war suppliers. The design commission went to Dimitar Gyudjenov and Nikola Kozhouharov, an unusual pairing of fine artists rather than commercial illustrators, reflecting a deliberate postwar effort to assert cultural legitimacy through the currency.
Bulgaria was operating under the severe financial constraints imposed by the Treaty of Neuilly, signed November 1919, which stripped territory and demanded heavy reparations. The 500 Leva denomination was substantial — printing at that level was as much a confidence measure as a practical one.