100 Leva

Bulgaria turned to the American Bank Note Company for this 1922 issue partly out of necessity — domestic printing capacity was constrained in the postwar years, and ABNC had already supplied engraved work to several Balkan states. The design credit shared between Dimitar Gyudjenov and Nikola Kozhouharov is unusual; collaborative attribution at this level of specificity is rare for Bulgarian issues of the period, suggesting a deliberate division of labor between the two artists rather than a conventional studio arrangement.

Bulgaria in 1922 was navigating acute fiscal stress following reparations imposed by the Treaty of Neuilly. The 100 Leva was a meaningful denomination in that environment — not a pocket note.