10 Leva

Bulgaria's postwar finances were in serious disorder by the early 1920s — the country had backed the losing side in both the Second Balkan War and the First World War, leaving the lev chronically weak and the treasury dependent on foreign credit. Commissioning ABNC in New York for this series was partly a practical decision and partly a deliberate signal of institutional credibility at a moment when the Bulgarian National Bank needed to project stability it didn't fully possess.

The involvement of Gyudjenov and Kozhouharov as designers is notable — both were established Bulgarian artists, not mere decorators hired by the printer. ABNC incorporated their work into the engraved plates rather than substituting its own stock imagery, which was not always the case with foreign commissions of this period.