Catalog
10 Leva Zlato
| Issuer | Българската Народна Банка (Bulgarian National Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1907 |
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| Value | 10 Leva |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Десетъ Лева Злато Срѣбро Злато Българската Народна Банка Плаща Прѣдѫвителю въ замѣна на таѫ банкнота (Translation: Ten Leva Gold Silver Gold The Bulgarian National Bank Pays the Bearer for exchange of this banknote) |
| Reverse description | Vertical format reverse dominated by an elaborate Art Nouveau-style guilloche border in rose and green, with symmetrical foliate scrollwork filling the field. The Bulgarian royal coat of arms, surmounted by a crown, is centrally placed within a circular guilloche frame. The denomination "Десетъ Лева" appears in large mirror-printed lettering at the top, with the forgery-warning legend in small Cyrillic text at the foot of the note. |
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| Comments |
Bulgaria's 1907 note issue came during the reign of Ferdinand I, just a year before he would unilaterally declare full independence from Ottoman suzerainty. The "Zlato" — gold — designation in the title was not ornamental; it specified redemption in gold coinage, a commitment the Bulgarian National Bank was under real pressure to maintain as the country navigated its precarious finances following the Russo-Turkish War settlements.
Goznak's St. Petersburg facility had been supplying security printing to regional clients since the mid-nineteenth century. Bulgaria's reliance on Russian state printing carried obvious political overtones for a country that owed its modern existence largely to Russian military intervention in 1878.