Catalog
5 Leva Srebro
| Issuer | Bulgarska Narodna Banka (Bulgarian National Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919-1920 |
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| Reference(s) | P#S105 |
| Obverse description | Vertically oriented note printed in blue-grey tones on plain paper, with an elaborate guilloche border framing the entire face. The issuer name БЪЛГАРСКАТА НАРОДНИ БАНКА appears in ornate Cyrillic lettering across the upper central field, beneath the serial number. The denomination ПЯТЬ ЛЕВА СРЕБРО is rendered in large, decorative Gothic-style Cyrillic script at centre, flanked by numeral 5 counters in each corner, with signature lines for the Управитель (Governor) and Касперъ (Cashier) below, and the serial number repeated at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Vertically oriented reverse printed in green and grey tones with a dense guilloche underprint. The Bulgarian royal coat of arms is centrally placed within an ornate decorative frame, flanked by the vertical inscription ЦАРСТВО БЪЛГАРИЯ along both side margins. The denomination 5 ЛЕВА appears at the top and is repeated at the lower left corner, with a penalty clause inscription in Cyrillic below the arms; a small applied revenue or control stamp is affixed to the lower right corner. |
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| Comments |
The "Srebro" designation — silver — is the key detail here. Bulgaria's post-WWI settlement under the Treaty of Neuilly (November 1919) stripped the country of territory, imposed heavy reparations, and reduced its military to a skeleton force. The silver-convertible framing on this note was more aspiration than reality; the Bulgarian lev had been severely destabilized by wartime borrowing and the indemnity obligations that followed made genuine silver backing untenable almost immediately after issue.
The P#S105 classification places this in Krause's state and commercial bank subsidiary listings — an acknowledgment that its standing was irregular rather than straightforwardly central-bank sovereign paper.