10 Leva

Bulgaria's economy was in freefall in 1992 — the lev had lost enormous purchasing power following the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, and this higher-denomination coin was introduced partly to keep pace with inflation that would ultimately render it obsolete within a few years. The country went through successive currency reforms throughout the 1990s, culminating in the 1999 redenomination that replaced 1,000 old leva with a single new lev.

Copper-nickel for a 10 leva denomination reflects just how far the currency had deteriorated from earlier decades, when such alloys were reserved for fractional coinage.