Catalog
50 000 Leva
| Issuer | Balgarska Narodna Banka (Bulgarian National Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Check-style note issued by the Bulgarian National Bank, Sofia Branch, dated 29 December 1922. The central text in Cyrillic script orders payment to the Sofia Zaimova Banka of fifty thousand leva, with the denomination 50000 inscribed in the upper right. A revenue stamp vignette is affixed in the upper left corner, and the note bears manuscript entries, official bank inscriptions, and two authorizing signatures at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | Revenue stamps affixed to both obverse (upper left) and reverse (lower right) as required by contemporary Bulgarian fiscal regulations. |
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| Comments |
Bulgaria's postwar financial position in 1922 was dire — the country had emerged from the First World War on the losing side, stripped of territory by the Treaty of Neuilly and saddled with reparations obligations it could not meet. High-denomination notes like this 50,000 Leva issue were a direct symptom of the inflationary pressure that followed, as the Bulgarian National Bank struggled to maintain any semblance of monetary stability through the early 1920s.
The American Bank Note Company contract is worth noting: engaging a New York printer at this moment required hard currency, which Bulgaria barely had. The revenue stamp security feature on the P#33B variant distinguishes it from related issues in the series.