Bulgaria 1940-A 50 leva
This specimen was lot 40711 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $120. The catalog description[1] noted, "BULGARIA. 50 Leva, 1940-A. Berlin Mint. Boris III. NGC MS-63." This one year type is common. It was succeeded by a fifty leva struck in nickel-plated steel (KM 48a). In 1940, Bulgaria, tho allied with Hitler's Germany, was still neutral in World War Two. Boris III later declared war on Britain and the United States but refused to send troops to participate in the invasion of Russia. He also resisted German pressure to deport Bulgarian Jews to the death camps (Thracian and Macedonian Jews were deported with Bulgarian connivance). Boris died in mysterious circumstances in 1943, allegedly poisoned by the Nazis or the NKVD.
Recorded mintage: 12,340,000.
Specification: 10 g, copper-nickel.
Catalog reference: KM-48.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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