February 8, 2012

Bulgarian Iconography Coin Series Features “The Virgin Mary Wayshower”

Virgin Mary Wayshower

On December 19, 2011, the Bulgarian National Bank released a new gold commemorative coin featuring ‘The Virgin Mary Wayshower.’ This coin is from the Bulgarian Iconography series. The obverse of the coin features the logo of the Bulgarian National Bank with the year ‘1879’ on the ribbon. Inscriptions around the outer circumference of the coin [...]

Notes from Bulgaria

Bulgarian Commemorative Coin

I recently returned from a family vacation in Bulgaria and wanted to provide some observations and experiences related to their coins and currency. The unit of currency in Bulgaria is the lev, which is divided into 100 stotinki. The current exchange rate is 1.37 lev = 1 U.S. Dollar. While in the country, we converted [...]

Khan Krum Commemorative Coin Begins Medieval Bulgarian Rulers Series

Khan Krum Bulgarian Coin

On June 20, 2011, the Bulgarian National Bank released a partially gold plated silver coin featuring Khan Krum. This represent the first issue in a new series featuring Medieval Bulgarian Rulers. The gold plated portion of the obverse design features a fragment of a miniature from the Constantine Manasses’ Chronicle. Khan Krum is pictured drinking [...]

Zograf Monastery Silver Commemorative Coin

Zograf Monastery Coin

The Bulgarian National Bank has issued (21st March)  a commemorative silver coin featuring the Zograf Monastery. This is part of the coin series “Bulgarian churches and monasteries”. The obverse of the coin was designed by Ivan Todorov. The right half features the logo of the Bulgarian National Bank and the nominal face value of ‘10 [...]

Commemorative Coin Marks 125 Years of Bulgarian Unification

125 Years of the Unification of Bulgaria

On September 1, 2010, the Bulgarian National Bank will release a partially gold plated silver commemorative coin for “125 Years of the Unification of Bulgaria”. The obverse of the coin features the Bulgarian National Bank logo with the year “1879″ included on the ribbon. Surrounding inscriptions include ‘БЪЛГАРСКА НАРОДНА БАНКА’ (Bulgarian National Bank), the year [...]

Belogradchik Rocks Featured on Bulgarian Commemorative Silver Coin

Belogradchik Rocks Silver Coin

On April 22, 2010, the Bulgarian National Bank will release a silver commemorative coin featuring the Belogradchik Rocks. The coins will be struck in 92.5% silver and represent the second Bulgarian commemorative coin issue of the year. The obverse of the coin features the Bulgarian National Bank logo with inscriptions ‘БЪЛГАРСКА НАРОДНА БАНКА’ (Bulgarian National [...]

Bulgarian Commemorative Coin Marks 140 Years of Bulgarian Exarchate

Bulgarian Exarchate Coin

The Bulgarian National Bank will release a new Bulgarian commemorative coin on February 22, 2010 to mark the 140 years of the Bulgarian Exarchate. The coins will be struck in 92.5% silver and partially plated in gold. The obverse of the coin features the logo of the Bulgarian National Bank with the year “1879″ on [...]

St. Dimitar the Wonderworker Gold Coin from Bulgarian National Bank

Dimitar Gold Coin

On October 20, 2009, the Bulgarian National Bank released a gold commemorative coin featuring St. Dimitar the Wonderworker. The coins have a nominal value of 100 BGN and are struck in .999 gold. The obverse of the coin depicts the logo of the Bulgarian National Bank. Inscriptions include the face value of “100 ЛЕВА” (100 [...]

Circulating Coins and Currency in Bulgaria

bulgarian-coins-obv

I recently spent some time in Europe, visiting Austria, Greece, and Bulgaria. Like any good coin collector, I was excited at the prospect of seeing the circulating coins from each country. I brought back a bag full of coins along with my observations about coins and currency in circulation. This post will focus on my [...]