500 Leva

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.