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Currency history

Bulgarian lev

Dates in use
Introduction and ending not established
Ancestry branch
French franc

Its place in the family

All ancestors and descendants ↗
Bulgarian lev: documented and qualified family connections PARENTS THIS CURRENCY CHILDREN French franc — 1795 to euro conversionFrench franc 1880 · DocumentedDocumented connection · 1880 Bulgarian levBulgarian lev Currency history Later adoption · see history below

Parents 1

Bulgarian lev

This currency

Children 0

Later adoption of an existing currency is explained below.

Trace its ancestry backward

Roman as–denarius accounting

Earlier as reckoning; denarius introduced c. 211 BC; accounts continue into late antiquity

Earlier ancestry is not established here.

Explore all incoming and outgoing connections →

The story

Bulgaria’s 1952 reform converted cash at 100:1, with different rules for prices and deposits. No universal valuation stored. [1]

Replacement by an existing currency

This conversion belongs to the history of the retiring unit. It does not make that unit an ancestor of the currency adopted.

Turning points

Lev established in monetary legislation with specified fiscal revenues in gold leva

Lev established in monetary legislation with specified fiscal revenues in gold leva. [2]

The 1880 law introduced the lev as national account unit, and monetary documents…

The 1880 law introduced the lev as national account unit, and monetary documents of public bodies and private persons were required to express sums in leva and stotinki. [3]

Redenomination

One new lev replaced 10 old leva. [4]

Redenomination

One new lev replaced 1,000 old leva. [5]

Euro monetary substitution

1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN. Bulgaria: euro adoption January 1, 2026; cash January 1, 2026. Regulation 974/98 substitutes the euro for each participating state’s currency on its adoption date; cash changeover is separately defined. [6] [7] [8]

Euro cash changeover

Bulgaria: euro adoption January 1, 2026; cash January 1, 2026. [7]

Sources and evidence

  1. Deutsche Bundesbank · Metadata on the Exchange Rate Statistics, 24 September 2025
  2. Kalina Dimitrova and Martin Ivanov · Bulgaria: From 1879 to 1947, South-Eastern European Monetary History Network historical database chapter
  3. Bulgarian National Bank · 140 years since creation of the Bulgarian lev,4June 2020; Luca Fantacci · Autonomy vs. Stability: the Relationship between Internal and External Money in Bulgaria (1879–1912), BNB DP73/2009
  4. Deutsche Bundesbank · Metadata on the Exchange Rate Statistics, 24 September 2025
  5. Deutsche Bundesbank · Metadata on the Exchange Rate Statistics, 24 September 2025
  6. Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 2866/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026
  7. Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 974/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026
  8. Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 974/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026

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“Bulgarian lev.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Updated 2026-10-14; data version v49. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/T-FTM000807.html

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