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2 Leva Foreign Exchange Certificate
| Issuer | Българска Народна Банка (Bulgarian National Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1986 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 149 x 72 mm |
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| Obverse description | Bulgarian National Bank monogram device with two rampant lions at upper centre, above the bank name in Cyrillic. Large Cyrillic legend ПОИМЕНЕН ЧЕК across centre field, flanked by two circular guilloche rosettes bearing the BNB monogram and denomination ДВА ЛЕВА. Denomination numeral 2 at each upper corner; series code АЯ 86 at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Uniface; reverse shows only faint bleed-through of the obverse printing, with no independent design elements. A red letterpress stamp reading ОСЕОС (or similar) appears at lower left on this example. |
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| Comments |
Bulgaria's Foreign Exchange Certificates — known locally as "certifikati" — were instruments of the Korekom hard-currency retail system, introduced to capture foreign exchange from tourists and Bulgarians with access to Western money. Holders could spend them at Korekom shops stocking imported goods unavailable through normal socialist retail channels. The scheme effectively ran a two-tier economy, quietly acknowledging that the lev was not convertible and that the state needed dollars, marks, and pounds more than its own currency.
By 1986 the system was well into its second decade and winding toward abolition, which came in 1989.