Product Description
B224a (P115a): 2 лева (levs) (withdrawn 07.12.2015) - UNCDate: 1999 - Sig. 20: Gavriiski/Ivanov. 2-letter prefix. - Intro: 05.07.1999.
Colour: Purple and red. Front: Bulgarian text; Pagisios of Chiliandar; Zografou Monastery on
Mount Athos; Pagisios’ cell; monastic seal.
Back: Bulgarian text; Zografou draft of the Historiae Sclavo-Bulgaricus; seals from four Bulgarian rulers; lion rampant; coat of arms.
Holographic stripe. - Solid security thread with demetalized БHБ.
Watermark: Rampant lion. - Printer: (BNBPW).
Size: 116 x 64 mm. - Material: Paper.
Source: The Banknotebook
General information: 1999 - 2005 Issues
On 5 July 1999, the lev was redenominated at 1,000:1 with 1 “new” lev (BGN) equal to 1 German mark, and the currency no longer backed by gold and silver. The notes depict “great Bulgarian men whose lives and deeds have left enduring traces in the national heritage.
What links these men is that most significant human virtue: love. Each of their lives embodies one of its myriad dimensions: Ivan of Rila’s love of God, Pagisios of Chiliandar’s compassion for his fellow Bulgars, Ivan Milev’s love of art, Petar Beron’s enthusiasm to enlighten Bulgarian youth, Stambolov’s
ardour to strengthen Bulgarian sovereignty, Pencho Slaveykov’s chivalry for Bulgarian women.”
Prior to 1998, Bulgarian notes were printed in England, Germany, the Soviet Union, and United States of America. Since that time, notes have been printed at the Printing Works of the
Bulgarian National Bank (BNBPW). The banknote workshop has not been profitable, and attempts to win contracts to print notes for other countries have not been successful. In 2011, BNBPW and
François-Charles Oberthur in France began negotiations on a joint venture to fully utilize the former’s excess production capacity.
