Българска народна банка

The obverse side carries an engraving of Doctor Peter Beron. To the right of him appear the frontispiece and plates from his 1824 “Primer Containing Diverse Instructions”. Colloquially known as Riben Bukvar (the Fish Primer), this was infused with the ideas of advanced European education.

Doctor Peter Beron (1799 - 1871), a National Revival scientist, Renaissance Man, reformer and sponsor of Bulgarian learning, this linguist with nine languages authored the first secular instruction book in Bulgarian, and encoded modern Bulgarian grammar. He contributed greatly to the modernisation of education and establishment of contemporary Bulgarian culture.

The reverse side shows sketches taken from Peter Beron's treatises in astronomy, and his personal telescope.

Technical Characteristics

Background colour - green.

Paper - 100% cotton, in beige tones.

Dimensions - 126 x 70 mm.

Security Features

Anti-copy Stripe - a hologram stripe consisting of alternating images of a globe and a telescope (elements of the design on the reverse of the banknote), the figure “10” and the text “ЛЕВА” (LEVS) appearing as miniprint, which change their colour when seen from a different angle.

Security Thread - a thread incorporated in the banknote paper with initials “БНБ 10” (BNB 10) appearing as a negative microprint.

Watermark - a half-tone outline of the portrait depicted on the banknote.

Fluorescence - elements of the pattern, serial numbers and fibres in the paper fluoresce under UV light.

Transparent register element - when the banknote is held against the light the figure “10” is seen in a square checkered field.

Microprint on the obverse - to the left of the portrait there are alternating lines with the texts: “ПЕТЪР БЕРОН” (PETER BERON) and “1799 - 1871”; in the two vertical lines to the right of the portrait: the text “ПЕТЪР БЕРОН” (PETER BERON); the text “10 ЛЕВА” (10 LEVS) printed within the boundaries of the denomination “10”; the figure “10” forming a stripe underneath the year of the issue “1999”.

Microprint on the reverse - the text “ПЕТЪР БЕРОН” (PETER BERON) forming a stripe on the left side of the banknote.

The obverse of the banknote features the embossed portrait, the texts “БЪЛГАРСКА НАРОДНА БАНКА”, “ДЕСЕТ ЛЕВА” (BULGARIAN NATIONAL BANK, TEN LEVS), the figure of the denomination “10”, the vignette, and the text “10 ЛЕВА” (10 LEVS) on the anti-copy stripe.

Visually impaired aid - an embossed rectangle and the circle underneath.