Bulgaria 1963 2 leva

Stack's Bowers 2021 ANA sale, lot 44125

photo courtesy Stack's Bowers LLC

This specimen was lot 44125 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $115. The catalog description^[1] noted, "BULGARIA. 2 Leva, 1963. Sofia Mint. NGC PROOF-66 Cameo. Struck for the 1100th Anniversary of the Slavonic Alphabet. A frosty, attractive Proof." Bulgaria was on the losing side of World War Two and was forcibly converted to Communism by the Red Army. Georgi Dimitrov (1882-1949), the first communist leader, had not set foot in Bulgaria since 1928. No coinage was issued for the country until the early 1960's. This design honoring the introduction of the Slavonic alphabet, was used on two leva, five leva, ten leva and twenty leva.

Recorded mintage: 10,000 proofs.

Specification: 8.89 g, 0.900 fine silver.

Catalog reference: KM-65.

Source:

• 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 August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.

Link to:

• 1963 5 leva, 1100th anniversary of Slavic alphabet
• 1963 10 leva, 1100th anniversary of Slavic alphabet
• 1963 20 leva, 1100th anniversary of Slavic alphabet
• 1964 5 leva, Georgi Dmitrov
• Coins and currency dated 1963