10 000 Leva St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral

Bulgaria's transition from communist planned economy to market democracy was brutal in the early 1990s — inflation ran catastrophically high, and by 1994 the lev had lost most of its practical purchasing power. Commemorative gold issues from this period were priced almost entirely for foreign buyers and domestic collectors with hard currency; the nominal face value of 10,000 leva was essentially symbolic fiction against the coin's actual metal content.

KM#218 is part of a broader Bulgarian commemorative gold program of the period, struck at .900 fineness — the same standard the Bulgarian mint had used for gold issues going back to the Kingdom era under Ferdinand I.