5000 Leva

Bulgaria's wartime alliance with Germany made Leipzig an uncontroversial printing choice in 1942, but it also meant supply and delivery were hostage to wartime logistics. Giesecke & Devrient had been printing Bulgarian currency for decades by this point, and the 5000 Leva was among the highest-denomination notes the National Bank had issued to that date — a direct consequence of inflation accelerating under the pressures of occupation-era economics and requisitioning by German forces.

Vasil Zahariev was Bulgaria's most accomplished graphic artist of the period, and his involvement gave the series a coherence and quality unusual for wartime production. The security thread inclusion is notable given the circumstances — G&D maintained rigorous production standards even as the war closed in on Leipzig itself.