By Bob Reis
copyright 1991, 1998 by WCN & BOB REIS
BULGARIA
The territory on which the Republic of Bulgaria now sits is known to
have been
occupied by humans of neolithic culture before the first millennium
BC. The wild tribes
who invaded the region around that time from the north and east, with
their newfangled
horses and iron swords, conquered and caused to shrink and vanish the
stone-and-bone
using people they found there, peacefully fishing the Danube and Ister
and the Black
Sea.. The earlier of these horse-and-iron peoples spread through Thrace
and Makedonia
(northeastern Greece and southern Bulgaria) and on to the south and
west until they
reached the Mediterranean Sea. There they developed the literate culture
from which we
Westerners like to claim descent. We call that culture Greek.
Further north in Dacia another group of horse-and-iron peoples was
immigrating.
These were the Gauls (= Gaels = Celts). The Celts were backcountry
cousins of the
Greeks whose most marked cultural differentials were that they did
not build extensively
in stone, did not develop a generally useful written language, and
did not employ mass
slavery to produce a substantial surplus product. Thus, while the Greeks
built cities and
became "civilized," the Celts remained "wild."
In Eurasia, since before recorded history, metal was known and valued.
From the
time of the earliest records the gold-silver-copper-tin-lead hierarchy
was operative, the
metals having the same ranking as today. (Iron was a later addition,
which, because of its
general, and more particularly, military utilities, has always been
partially outside of the
exchange ratios.) The Greeks were the first to make standard small
ingots of precious
metal and to have the ingots guaranteed by a political agency, and
today we call these
ingots and their descendents "coins."
EARLIEST COINS
Thracian and Makedonian tribes were making archaic style Greek coins
from the
sixth century BC The Durrones, Ichnai, Bisaltai, etc. issued crude,
rare silver pieces,
including dollar size dodekadrachms, among the largest of the ancient
Greek series.
Examples of these giant coins are actually offered occasionally in
fancy auctions. Greek
city-states in the region struck coins through the archaic and classical
periods up to the
time of Alexander III of Makedon. Cities of note are Mesembria and
Apollonia on the
Black Sea, Maroneia and Abdera on the Mediterranean. Perhaps one of
the most easily
available coins of the classical period is the silver hemidrachm of
Cherronessos of the
fourth century BC. This coin has forepart of lion obverse, incuse-square-with-bee
reverse
(Sear #1602). A type which enjoyed a vogue in the region was that of
"nymph seized by
satyr." These coins are quite popular in our porno-conscious era, and
high prices have
brought noticeably more pieces into the market than were around twenty
five years ago.
The Celts of Northern Thrace and Dacia watched the doings of their
Greek
cousins and in many ways attempted to imitate their accomplishments.
(The Greeks,
denying any kinship, calling them "barbarians," treated them with general
contempt.)
The Celts knew about gold and silver, of course, and as the ever more
beautiful Greek
coins began to filter into Celtland, traded for furs and horses and
slaves, the Celts
imitated them as well. The majority of these Celtic imitations are
based on types of the
kings of nearby Makedonia, most commonly of the most famous of all
the ancients,
Alexander the Great. These Celtic coins are on the market. They are
much scarcer than
their prototypes, yet their crudity and difficulty of firm attribution
to time and locale
diminishes somewhat their mass appeal, and they are typically only
a little more
expensive than the much more common original types. Attribution of
ancient imitations
depends almost exclusively on hoard data, and the habit, from time
immemorial, of coin
finders to keep their mouths shut about where, when, how they found
their coins, has
subtracted immeasurably from the sum of numismatic knowledge. Most
ancient hoards
reaching the market these days are smuggled out of their country of
origin, stripped of all
scientific information, exact provenance a carefully guarded secret.
Alexander, (336-323 BC) subdued and conquered Thrace, but did not campaign
in Dacia. He issued his imperial style coinage from several hundred
mints, including
some in Thrace. His tetradrachms and drachms are of a glut on the market
these past few
years. I've had several attributed by Mueller (Coinage of Alexander
the Great) to
Thracian mints.
In the aftermath of Alexander's death his empire went up for grabs
among his generals.
Thrace devolved on Lysimachos (323-281 BC). During the first part of
his reign he
continued the standard Alexander types in gold and silver. Later he
issued a prolific
series in gold, silver, and copper. He was a powerful ruler of a wealthy
kingdom, and his
coins are reasonably available today. His line ended with him though,
as he was attacked
by the army of Seleukos, King of Syria, and died in battle.
By annihilating Lysimachos Seleukos reunited all of Alexander's conquests
save
Egypt, which was held by Ptolemy. Seleukid government began to deteriorate
within
fifty years of the death of Seleukos (280 BC), and the Thracian cities
began to reassert
their independence. This new political situation was reflected in the
coinage of course,
as civic coinage came into use once again. This time (second and first
centuries BC) is
stylistically referred to as "Hellenistic." Silver types often imitated
the old Imperial
"Alexander" coins, and copper coinage became quite plentiful. Noteworthy
in this period
are the coins of Olbia on the Black Sea. Issues of this city include
enormous cast copper
coins, and others shaped like dolphins. A hoard of gold staters of
a Thracian king named
Koson of the first century BC has recently come on the market.
ROMAN PERIOD
The Romans dominated Makedonia and southern Thrace by the second century
BC. They began their attempts to subdue the Celts of Northern Thrace
in the next
hundred years. This was not, of course, the first time the region had
been invaded, and
the Celts liked to fight. Caesar, in the late first century BC, said
of the Celts in Belgium
that they were the toughest warriors he had ever seen, and the Emperor
Trajan had a
similar experience in Dacia (modern Romania and northern Bulgaria)
a hundred and fifty
years later.
Roman territorial administration was designed for the generation of
surplus
product which could be taxed. The taxes were used to do the big business
of
government, build the aqueducts, walls, etc., to run the army, and
to improve the
lifestyles of the rich and famous. Modern taxation was developed first
in Rome. The
Greeks were used to bureaucracy, but all the central government stuff
was very strange to
the Celts of the Danube. They didn't cotton to taxes, and, being hot
blooded folk, they
rebelled frequently. The Romans would come and kill lots of men, taking
lots of women
and children for slaves to pay for the military action, tending to
keep the local population
low. With the passage of time administrative headquarters became good
sized towns.
Intermarriage was the norm, and the region became "Romanized." Several
towns struck
"Greek Imperial" coins in the first through third centuries AD. Among
these are Abdera,
Bizya, Odessus, Perinthus, Philippopolis, Hadrianopolis in Thrace,
Tomis, Istrus,
Marcianopolis in Moesia Inferior (between Thrace and Dacia). At the
start of the third
century AD the town of Serdica began to issue coins, initially of the
"Greek Imperial"
series. Later, in the reign of Aurelian (270-275 AD), regular Roman
style coins were
issued. The same town, bearing the Christian name Sofia, serves today
as the capitol of
the People's Republic.
Serdica was a small town, and it's mint had a low output. Its products
are rather
scarce. I suppose that some of the antoniniani of Aurelian are the
most common types.
They're not particularly easy to find. Post reform copper coins are
known for
Maximianus, Licinius I, and their minor compatriots in the period 303-313
AD. Serdica
emissions of these series are also scarce, but a lot of fourth century
bronzes are traded
without regard to mintmarks. One can always get lucky.
The mint at Serdica became inactive from the reign of Constantine the
Great,
307-337 AD. Roman rule continued through the demise of the Western
Imperium in 476
AD and on into the period we now call the "Byzantine" era. Roman, and
later, Byzantine
coins were used in Thrace and Moesia Inferior. The closest mints were
Siscia and
Sirmium, both now in Yugoslavia, and both reasonably common mints for
Roman fourth
and fifth century bronze. In the Byzantine series the nearest major
mints were
Thessalonika and Constantinople. Bulgarian hoards of the fifth through
eighth centuries
show a more or less "normal" mint distribution, with pieces from Constantinople
dominating, then Thessalonika, Antioch, etc..
During this period a population shift was occurring as nomadic Bulgar,
Khazar,
and Avar tribes began to maraud in from the east. These peoples appear
to have had
some ethnic affinity with the people known as the Huns, who were violently
roaming
around from Hungary to northern Italy in the last years of the Western
Empire. The Huns
retreated into the Russian steppes and disappeared from history, the
Bulgars, Khazars,
and Avars remained in occupation of the Balkans. Bulgarian presence
grew in the region
until they were the dominant ethnic group, at which time they began
to assert their
nationalism against the Byzantine government.
FIRST AND SECOND BULGARIAN EMPIRES
Under several charismatic Khans (they being at that time still pagans)
the Bulgars
established an independent kingdom, later styled the "First Bulgarian
Empire," with a
capitol at Pliska. One of the ninth century Khans accepted Christianity,
and by the tenth
the Bulgars were considered a Christian people.
Byzantine coins of this period were debased billon cup-shaped "scyphate
trachea."
Byzantine trachea are by and large common and totally wretched in execution,
hardly any
difference at all between "good" and "extremely fine." But there are
non-imperial
outlander imitations, identifiable by being even more crude, and some
of these are
tentatively attributed to the First Bulgarian Empire. What is certain
is that several of the
Byzantine Emperors of the period bought peace on their Makedonian frontier
by paying
tribute in gold to the Bulgarian rulers (by now thoroughly Christianized
and styling
themselves "Czars").
By the late tenth century Bulgarian power had disintegrated and a degree
of
Byzantine control was reestablished for a time in the region. New nomadic
peoples were
appearing out of the east: Pechenegs and Magyars, keeping the pot boiling.
Meanwhile,
the Byzantine government became involved against its will in the Crusades.
From the
west Venetian commercial power was making itself felt. No coins were
issued in
Bulgaria for another two centuries.
In 1185 the Vlachs (Wallachs) and Bulgars began a war of national liberation
against the Byzantine government. After several terrible years the
Bulgars were
successful in their struggle, the Byzantines recognizing the Second
Bulgarian Empire,
with its capitol in Turnovo, in 1204. It didn't really matter what
the Byzantine
government did at that point, as Constantinople had just been captured
by armies of the
Fourth Crusade.
Most of the rulers of the Second Bulgarian Empire issued coins. In
that same
momentous year - 1204 - Kaloyan (1197-1207) obtained from the Pope
in Rome the right
to coin in his own name. No pieces of this ruler are known today, but
coins exist bearing
the names of most of his successors.
Ivan Asen II (1218-41) - To this king belong the earliest positively
identifiable
pieces. He issued billon trachea, and good silver but lightweight versions
of the Venetian
gross. Both of these types are extremely scarce. There is also a unique
gold hyperpyron.
Finally, there is a series of imitations of the trachea of the Latin
Emperors of
Constantinople which is assigned to Bulgaria (Hendy Type D-T). These
coins are quite a
bit less scarce than the named pieces of Ivan, yet still are basically
unavailable.
Mikhail Asen (1242-57) - Rare silver groshove (sing. "grosh") of Venetian
style are
known of this Tsar.
Konstantin Tikh Asen (1255-77) - He issued rare trachea of several
types, most notable
being an extremely scarce piece with horseman motif.
Giorgi I Terter (1280-92) - There are rare silver groshove and still
rarer small
copper coins of this ruler. During his reign Bulgaria became vassal
to the Kipchak Tatars
under Khan Nogai. Two ephemeral Tsars succeeded Giorgi, neither issuing
identifiable
coins. With the death of Nogai Bulgarian independence was reestablished.
Todor Svetoslav Terter (1300-22) - Named coins began to be struck again
in his reign.
Todor's silver groshove are somewhat less scarce than those of his
predecessors. His
copper is quite rare.
Mikhail Shishman (1323-30) - Mikhail issued silver groshove which today
are
very scarce.
Mikhail's successor was Ivan Aleksandur(1331-71). The groshove of this
king are
actually quite common. They, and the reduced size groshove of the next
Tsar, Ivan
Shishman (1371-93), are the only medieval Bulgarian coins for which
there exist any
quantity sitting in dealer stock. I would guess there are several hundred
groshove of
these two rulers in (or recently in) the numismatic market. Average
price would be in the
$20-40 range. There are also rare coppers for both of these rulers,
decidedly unavailable.
Copper hoards are much more likely to be thrown away by ignorant finders
than silver,
thus fewer pieces make it to the market.
Ivan Aleksandur had divorced and remarried, disinheriting his first
son Ivan
Sratsimir in favor of Shishman. To Sratsimir he awarded the Vidin region
so he shouldn't
feel so bad. The ingrate broke away from his feckless dad, ruling and
issuing rare coins
in his own name. Also during this period the boyar Balik, in the Dobrogea
region,
asserted his independence. He was succeeded by his son Ivan Dobrotits,
1348-86.
Dobrotits issued rare coppers from the Black Sea fort of Kaliakra.
OTTOMAN PERIOD
The Turks occupied the Balkans by 1395. They held the region until
the
nineteenth century. For the first four hundred years of the Turkish
occupation the
coinage system was quite simple. There were little copper coins called
"mangirs", even
smaller silver coins called "akjes", and gold coins called by the Turks
"altun" (= "gold")
and by the Italians zecchini or sequins, equal in value to the Venetian
ducat. Ottoman
coins are relatively cheap compared with contemporary Italian issues.
Akjes of, say,
Suleyman the Magnificent, (1520-66), from any of the common mints,
run only a few
dollars in normal wretchedly struck fine. His altuns in VF rum $150
or so, but in gold
Egypt and Constantinople are the common mints. Balkan gold is kind
of scarce.
Ottoman copper tends toward rarity, because who wants to risk Turkish
jail for some
cheap coppers? Suleyman's coins are probably the most common of the
great Ottoman
Sultans. Prices tend higher for other rulers. Balkan mints included
Kosovo and Adrana
in what is now Turkey, Sidrekepsi and Salonika in Greece, Belgrade,
Novar, Srebreniche,
and Novabirda in Yugoslavia. Nuri Pere lists akjes from Sofia for Osman
II (1618-22)
and Murad IV (1623-40). Both of these are rather scarce rulers, and
I have never seen
those, or any other Ottoman coins from Sofia.
The end of the seventeenth century saw a reform of the Ottoman silver
coinage,
where the tiny akje of good silver was displaced by the crown-size
kurush (piastra in
Italian) and its fractions in billon. Another aspect of the reform
was the closing of most
provincial mints. Adrana remained open longer than most, but by the
nineteenth century
it closed too, and coinage needs in the Balkans were exclusively served
by the output of
Constantinople.
KINGDOM, 1879-1946
Bulgarian patriots began their War of Independence against the Turks
in 1876.
By 1878 the Ottoman government was losing, and was forced by international
pressure,
chiefly from Russia, to allow the creation of a vassal state of Bulgaria
under Prince
Alexander I (1879-86). First coins of this new semi-country were the
copper 2, 5, and 10
stotinki of 1881. Contracted from the Heaton mint, made to the module
of the Latin
Monetary Union, they are reasonably common coins, no trouble at all
to find in
circulated condition. Choice uncirculated pieces, however, are rare.
These were
followed in 1882 by silver 1 and 2 leva pieces, with a companion 50
stotinki in 1883 and
5 leva crowns in 1884 and 1885.. These are common enough coins in all
but gem
condition. VG is the normally encountered grade, and the crowns are
frequently banged
up. In 1888 a set of copper-nickel minors was issued. The 5 and 10
stotinki are common
in VG, the 2« and 20 stotinki are not so easy to find. All are
extremely scarce in
uncirculated. King Ferdinand issued portrait coins in silver in 1891,
'92, and '94. In '94
also gold coins were issued. The silver coins are easily available
up to VF or so, can be
obtained in XF, and are scarce in uncirculated. The gold is scarce
in any grade. Think
about all the Hungarian 20 korona coins you've seen. Now think about
all the Bulgarian
20 leva. Haven't seen any, have you?
Twentieth century coinage began with a new denomination, the 1 stotinka,
also a
2 s, both common, and occasionally found in uncirculated. 1912 coins
of the same type
exist in some small quantity in AU or better. 5, 10, and 20 s in copper-nickel,
issued
1906, `12, and `13, are very common. The silver 50 s, 1 and 2 leva
coins of 1910, `12,
and `13 exist in some quantity in AU-Unc. 1916 coins are more or less
a waste of time to
look for. You just have to be patient and keep money in your pocket.
Gold coins of 1912
commemorate the King's jubilee, but no one ever has them. There are
also those funny 4
ducat gold coins. I've actually seen a couple of these, polished and
plugged. I've heard
there are counterfeits, too. Rounding out the early twentieth century
are the zinc minors
of 1917. These are common enough (20 s is a little tougher), in circulated
with minor
oxidation spots, but I bet they don't exist in choice Unc, and should
be worth at least
double the SCWC price in that grade.
In concert with that of the rest of Europe, the economy of Bulgaria
fell apart after
World War I . The whole continent was in hock to the American banks.
Devaluation
was the order of the day. Only a few coins were issued in the '20s.
The aluminum 1 and
2 leva of 1923 are not particularly easy to find, perhaps more common
in Unc than
circulated. The copper-nickel coins of 1925 are very common. And there's
another of
those funny looking 4 ducat gold coins. I've never seen one, but again
have heard that
counterfeits exist.
Aside from the not especially common 50 s of 1937 only large denomination
inflation coins were issued in the '30s. The copper-nickel 5 and 10
leva coins are
moderately common in F-VF, while the silver 50 and 100 leva of 1930,
'34, and '37 in VF
are ubiquitous. The 20 leva is a bit tougher. These silver coins have
soft, low relief
surfaces, so the line between Xf and Unc tends to blur.
During World War II iron versions of the old type 1, 2, 5, and 10 leva
were
issued, the 5 and 10 leva again in nickel-clad steel in 1943. 1941
coins are scarce in
rusty F-VF, rare in nice Unc. The 1943 coins are easier to find, and
have an unfortunate
propensity for rust spots along the edge. The 1940 20 and 50 leva in
copper nickel are
available in Unc.
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC
The king of Bulgaria had been an Axis ally, and his country ended up
the war
under Soviet occupation. A referendum in 1946 abolished the monarchy,
and the
government which eventually emerged was modelled on Soviet lines. Minor
coins were
issued in 1951. The brass 1,3, and 5 s were heavily imported by wholesalers,
and were
standard elements of "25 different coins" packets for years. The copper-nickel
10 and 25
s are a bit less ubiquitous, but still are quite common. 20 s of 1952
and '54, and 50 s of
1959, are less available. The 1962 coins are even more available than
the '51s, the lower
denominatios again having been imported in quantity. The same pattern
of availability
obtains for the 1974 dated minors. Those of 1979, '80, and '81, in
proof only, are rather
difficult. How many Bulgarian proof sets have you run into? 80's dated
minors are less
available. They have such low value, and Bulgarian coins have never
been a prime
seller. Importers have not jumped on them.
The People's Republic started issuing commemoratives in 1963 with a
gold and
silver set on the 1100 Anniversary of the Cyrillic alphabet. They have
continued
releasing commemoratives ever since. Most, but not all were struck
at Leningrad mint.
Noteworthy pieces include the Anti-Turk 1 lev in bronze, a piece for
Russo-Bulgarian
Friendship ("Close as lips and teeth" they like to say), several pieces
concerned with
space exploration, several honoring children, a couple for a hunting
exposition, and lots
of sports coins. In 1981 they really rolled out the barrel for the
1300th anniversary of the
founding of the First Bulgarian Empire. That set ran from brass 1 stotinka
to gold 1000
leva, including twelve different 2 leva coins, for a total of 24 pieces
in the set. Some of
these pieces are fairly common, 1980 1 and 2 leva coins for the 1980
soccer World Cup,
for instance. But when you think about all the Czech and Polish commemoratives
floating around, you realize that by and large the Bulgarian coins
are not there, most of
them never turning up at all. The "law of supply" would make these
coins "sleepers," but
the "law of demand" has so far kept them in dreamland.
GENERALLY SPEAKING
I believe it would be tough to assemble even so much as a complete
set of
People's Republic coins. A Kingdom type set could probably be assembled
fairly easily
in circulated grades, minus the gold. The earlier pieces are all scarce
to extremely rare.
By and large, even Albanian coins are more common than Bulgarians.
Numismatically,
this is a very underappreciated country.