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500 Leva
| Issuer | Bulgarian National Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | The state arms of the Kingdom of Bulgaria — a crowned lion rampant within a shield — appears at upper centre within an ornate vignette border. The heading ЦАРСТВО БЪЛГАРИЯ (Kingdom of Bulgaria) is inscribed at the top in Cyrillic script, with text below designating this as a Държавен Съкровищен Бон (State Treasury Bond) at 500 leva, series А. The document body contains a detailed printed Cyrillic text obligating the Bulgarian National Bank to redeem the bond, with manuscript signatures of the Minister of Finance and the Director of Public Debt. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is occupied entirely by a printed interest and redemption value table in Cyrillic, headed ИЗДАДЕНЪ ВЪЗ ОСНОВА with citations of the relevant Bulgarian laws and decrees. Below the legal references, the main body consists of a Стойность (Value) table presenting the accrued worth of the state treasury bond at 5¾% annual interest across multiple monthly intervals and years from 1918 through 1920. The layout is strictly typographic, with no vignette or decorative elements, and carries handwritten notations in ink at the upper margin. |
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| Comments |
Bulgaria's postwar finances in the early 1920s were in serious difficulty. The country had emerged from the First World War on the losing side, and the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine imposed heavy reparations that strained the government's fiscal position throughout this period. The 500 Leva note of 1922 belongs to a high-denomination issue that reflects the inflationary pressures bearing down on the lev during these years — not yet the hyperinflation that would follow later in the decade, but a clear warning of what was coming.
At 240 × 140 mm, this is a notably large-format note even by the generous standards of the era's printing conventions.