Bulgaria 1943 5 leva
This specimen was lot 6520 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $360. The catalog description[1] noted, "BULGARIA. 5 Leva, 1943. Vienna Mint. Boris III. PCGS MS-64. A decently struck and softly lustrous coin, with a faint touch of almond toning on the peripheries." This denomination was previously struck in copper-nickel but wartime shortages forced its conversion to iron in 1941. This proved unsatisfactory, so the 1943 issue was done in nickel plated steel. Like many other wartime issues, dealer junk boxes are filled with worn or corroded examples but choice specimens are few. Bulgaria was on the losing side of World War Two and was forcibly converted to Communism by the Red Army.
Recorded mintage: 36,000,000.
Specification: nickel plated steel.
Catalog reference: KM-39b.
- 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 2022 NYINC Sale: World and Ancient Coins, featuring the Mark and Lottie Salton Collection and the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
Link to: