Lev

2003 Bulgaria 100 levs bill. Obverse. Photo courtesy of Bulgarian National Bank ([1])

2003 Bulgaria 100 levs bill. Reverse.Photo courtesy of Bulgarian National Bank ([2])

2002 Bulgaria 1 lev coin.Photo courtesy of Bulgarian National Bank ([3])

1999 Bulgaria 50 stotinki coin.Photo courtesy of Bulgarian National Bank ([4])

The Lev (lv) (Bulgarian: лев) is the currency of Bulgaria, and it has been used since 1881. Its smaller unit is called stotinka (plural – stotinki), and 100 stotinki are of the same value as one lev. In the 19th century Bulgarian language the name meant 'lion' (akin to the Romanian and Moldovan lei; the word has since changed to 'лъв' ('luv')).

The ISO 4217 currency code for the Bulgarian Lev is BGN. On July 5, 1999 the lev was revalued at the rate of 1,000 old Lev for 1 new Lev. The code for the old Lev was BGL.

External links

Pre-Euro Currencies and non-Euro currencies

Eurozone	Austrian schilling \| Belgian franc \| Dutch guilder \| Finnish markka \| French franc \| German mark \| Greek drachma \| Irish pound \| Italian lira \| Luxembourg franc \| Portuguese escudo \| San Marinese lira \| Spanish peseta \| Vatican lira
ERM	Cypriot pound \| Danish krone¹ \| Estonian kroon \| Latvian lat \| Lithuanian litas \| Maltese lira \| Slovenian tolar
Other EU	British pound¹ \| Czech koruna \| Hungarian forint \| Polish zloty \| Slovak koruna \| Swedish krona²

Notes:

1 – negotiated an opt-out and is not obliged to join the Eurozone.

2 – technically obliged to join the Eurozone, but deliberately fails to meet one of the Maastricht criteria (namely membership in ERM II).

Categories: European currencies | Bulgaria