50 Leva - Boris III

Bulgaria's fiscal situation in 1930 was precarious enough that the government deliberately chose .500 fineness rather than the .835 silver standard common to contemporary European issues — a quiet debasement that kept metal costs down while maintaining the appearance of a silver coin. The 50 Leva was struck at the Budapest mint, a consequence of Bulgaria's limited domestic minting infrastructure following the restrictions imposed after the First World War.

Boris III had consolidated his personal rule through a royal coup in 1934-35, though this coin predates that consolidation by several years, issued when parliamentary government in Bulgaria was still nominally intact.