PRESS RELEASE
16 November 2023
Design of the Bulgarian national side of euro coins
Today, at its meeting, the Coordination Council for the preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for euro area membership has adopted the artistic design for the Bulgarian national side of the euro coins of all denominations – 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 euro cent; €1 and €2. The design is approved by the Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank.
The euro coins have a common side and a national side. The design of the common sides of the coins is by Luc Luycx of the Royal Belgian Mint. They show images of the European Union or of Europe and symbolise the unity of the EU.
The artistic design for the Bulgarian national side of the euro coins, adopted today by the Coordination Council, meet the requirements for the main motifs and mandatory details of the design, specified in Council Regulation (EU) No. 729/2014 of 24 June 2014 on denominations and technical specifications of euro coins intended for circulation.
According to the regulatory requirements, each national side of the euro coins includes mandatory and optional details.
The mandatory details included in the design of the national side of the Bulgarian euro coins are:
- depiction of a circle of 12 stars as on the European Union flag;
- Cyrillic writing of the word ‘БЪЛГАРИЯ’ (BULGARIA) as designation of the issuing country;
- for the Bulgarian euro coins of €2 – an inscription along the edge with ‘БОЖЕ ПАЗИ БЪЛГАРИЯ’ (GOD SAVE BULGARIA) on one half and the same inscription written upside down on the second half.
The selected optional features, included in the design of the national side of the Bulgarian euro coins, are:
- Cyrillic writing of the word ‘евро’ (euro) on the €1 and €2 coins, ‘стотинка’ (cent) on the 1 euro cent coin and ‘стотинки’ (cents) on the 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 euro cent coins; and
- inscription of the year of introduction of the euro in Bulgaria ‘2025’.
The main elements of the design of the national side of the Bulgarian euro coins reproduce the design of the current Bulgarian coins in circulation:
- the Madara Horseman – on 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 euro cent coins;
- St. Ivan Rilski – on €1 coins;
- Paisy Hilendarski – on €2 coins.
The reason for this is that the symbols on the current Bulgarian circulation coins are established and well accepted by the citizens of Bulgaria. This approach will ensure continuity from the current to the new euro coins in Bulgaria and their easy recognition by reaffirming and continuing the Bulgarian identity through the familiar symbols of the Bulgarian coins.
The artistic design is made by the Bulgarian Mint EAD.
The design is to be approved by the European Commission, the EU Council and the euro area member states. After their approval, it will be used for the production of euro coins with the Bulgarian national side. In implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of Bulgaria, the euro area member states, and the European Commission for the start of the production of euro coins and for the preparatory tasks prior to the start of the production, initially 8 denominations of euro coins with the Bulgarian national side will be produced in an amount of up to 1 million pieces for each denomination for quality testing of the produced coins and certification of the Bulgarian Mint. The actual production of the necessary quantities of euro coins with a Bulgarian national side will take place after the release of the Decision of the Council of the European Union on the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria.
