Bulgaria 1972 5 leva

Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale, lot 73254

This specimen was lot 73254 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2022), where it sold for $100. The catalog description^[1] noted, "BULGARIA. 5 Leva, 1972. Sofia Mint. PCGS PROOF-68 Deep Cameo. Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of Paisi Hilendarski's Birth. Entrancingly beautiful, this modern commemorative honors the legacy of the clergyman well with an impressive design and beautiful mirroring in the fields." This is the third in a series of silver NCLT's struck to this module.

Wikipedia comments, "Saint Paisius of Hilendar or Paìsiy Hilendàrski (Bulgarian: Свети Паисий Хилендарски) (1722–73) was a Bulgarian clergyman and a key Bulgarian National Revival figure. He is most famous for being the author of Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya, the second modern Bulgarian history after the work of Petar Bogdan Bakshev from 1667, "History of Bulgaria". Most Bulgarians are taught that he was the forefather of the Bulgarian National Revival."

Recorded mintage: 200,000 proofs.

Specification: 20.5 g, 0.900 fine silver, 36 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM-81.

Source:

• ^[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.

Link to:

• 1971 5 leva, 150th anniversary of the birth of Georgi S. Rakovski
• 1973 5 leva, death of Vasil Levski
• Bulgaria 1974 50 stotinki
• Coins and currency dated 1972