100 Leva Foreign Exchange Certificate

Bulgaria's Foreign Exchange Certificates — "Certifikati" — were instruments of the Korekombank system, a parallel currency mechanism the state used to capture hard currency from Bulgarians who received remittances or earnings from abroad. Holders could spend them only at Corecom shops, which stocked Western goods unavailable through normal retail channels. The arrangement effectively taxed access to imported consumer items while keeping foreign exchange out of the black market — or trying to.

The 1986 series was among the last issued before the system collapsed in the late 1980s as the broader socialist economy deteriorated. Surviving examples in any condition are surprisingly thin on the ground; most were spent.