Inflation in the 1990s was so great that in 1999 the Central Bank took devalued the currency, making 1,000 old leva worth one new lev. The official abbreviation for the new lev is BGN (the old leva was referred to as BGL). To make matters somewhat confusing, the plural of lev is leva and the abbreviation ‘lv’ is generally used on price tags.
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The leva is no longer legal tender, so you should get used to the new currency as quickly as possible in order to be able to recognise worthless leva notes, which are sometimes given as change to unwary visitors.
The lev is divided into 100 stotinka and coins come in denominations of 1 lev and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 stotinkas. The 1, 2 and 5 stotinka coins are bronze-yellow in colour, while the 10, 20 and 50 stotinka coins are silver-white. The 1 lev coin is silver-coloured in the centre with a bronze-coloured rim (similar to the 1 euro coin) with a serrated edge.
Note that when buying something in a shop you should try to give the exact amount, as you may not receive the proper change; it’s common practice to round prices up to the nearest lev!
Bulgarian banknotes come in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 lev. Notes feature images and motifs from the lives of famous Bulgarians. Notes increase in size as their value increases and have similar security features to the current euro notes.
The 100 lev note isn’t common and you should be wary of them – if only because of the risk of losing them! The Bulgarian National Bank website (www.bnb.bg ) has pictures and descriptions of the notes and coins in circulation.
Although less common than a few years ago, some businesses insist on payment in ‘hard currency’ (e.g. euros, sterling or dollars) for items such as airline tickets. Many hotels quote their prices in dollars or euros, and property prices are commonly given in euros and sometimes in sterling, although payment in lev is generally accepted.
This article is an extract from Buying a Home in Bulgaria
from Survival Books.