Bulgaria 2004 10 leva KM-270
This specimen was lot 73275 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2022), where it sold for $216. The catalog description[1] noted, "BULGARIA. Piefort 10 Leva, 2004. Sofia Mint. PCGS PROOF-67 Deep Cameo. Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the National Theater. This charming commemorate, delicately dress in frost, renders uncommon beauty and is a worthy tribute to the theater." The Communist regime, beset by corruption and an aging leadership, was swept away with the collapse of all the Eastern Bloc regimes in 1989-90. Perhaps as a reaction to humorless Stalinist design featuring smokestacks and tractors, a burst of NCLT's appeared, some rather frivolous, including one celebrating the arrival of the Millennium (KM 244). This NCLT was struck after the fall of communism and after the currency was reformed (1000 old leva = 1 new lev). Bulgaria adopted the euro in 2026 and the leva is now obsolete (at the time of transition, €1 = 1.95583 leva).
Recorded mintage: 5,000 proofs.
Specification: 23.33 g, 0.999 fine silver, 38.6 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-270.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The February 2022 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancients & World Coins, Featuring Selections from the Kings Norton Mint Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
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