Bulgarian lev
| български лев | |
|---|---|
The first Bulgarian banknote, 1885 | |
| ISO 4217 | |
| Code | BGN |
| Subunit | 0.01 |
| Unit | |
| Plural | levove, numeric: leva |
| Symbol | The abbreviation лв. (lv.) is used |
| Nickname | kint |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1⁄100 | stotinka |
| Plural | |
| stotinka | stotinki |
| Symbol | |
| stotinka | ст. (st.) |
| Banknotes | 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 leva |
| Coins | 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 st., 1 lev, 2 leva |
| Demographics | |
| Date of introduction | 4 June 1880 |
| Date of withdrawal | 31 December 2025 |
| Replaced by | Euro |
| User(s) | None, previously: Bulgaria |
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Bulgarian National Bank |
| Website | www |
| Printer | Bulgarian National Bank |
| Website | https://www.bnbprint.com/en |
| Mint | Bulgarian Mint, Sofia |
| Website | mint |
| Valuation | |
| Inflation | 2.2% |
| Method | Consumer price index (CPI) |
| Pegged with | Euro (€) = 1.95583 leva |
| EU Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) | |
| Since | 10 July 2020 |
| Replaced by euro, non cash | 1 January 2026 |
| Replaced by euro, cash | 1 February 2026 |
| 1 € = | BGN 1.95583 |
| Band | 15.0% de jure; 0.0% de facto |
| This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. | |
The lev (лев; plural: лева, левове; lev, leva, levove; ISO 4217 code: BGN) was the currency of Bulgaria from 1880 to 2025. The euro replaced the lev on 1 January 2026; during the cash changeover period (1–31 January 2026), the lev and the euro circulated in parallel for cash payments, and from 1 February 2026 the euro became the sole legal tender in Bulgaria.
The name lev derives from an archaic Bulgarian word meaning "lion" (modern лъв, lǎv, IPA: [ɫɤf]). The lev was subdivided into 100 stotinki (стотинки; singular: стотинка, stotinka); the term is derived from the Bulgarian word for "hundred" (сто, sto) and is modelled on the French centime. On Bulgarian euro coinage, the denominations below one euro use the inscriptions СТОТИНКА / СТОТИНКИ as the Bulgarian equivalent of "cent".
Under a currency board introduced in 1997, the lev was initially pegged to the Deutsche Mark (1,000 BGL = 1 DEM). In 1999, the lev was redenominated at 1000:1 with 1 new lev (1 BGN) equal to 1 DEM. Subsequently the peg was shifted to the euro at a fixed rate of 1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN. The lev joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) on 10 July 2020 at the same rate until ultimately exiting both the ERM II and the currency board upon joining the Eurozone on 1 January 2026.