Bulgaria’s central bank removes old 20 lev banknotes from circulation

The 20 lev banknotes, issue 2005, will be withdrawn from circulation on February 1 and will no longer be legal tender. After this date, the banknotes with a nominal value of BGN 20, issue 2005, will be exchanged at the cash desks of the Bulgarian National Bank at their face value without any limitation of the quantity, without any fee and without any deadline for exchange.

However, the 20 lev banknotes of the other issues will remain in circulation. According to Bulgarian National Bank’s statistics, there are currently 124 033 555 banknotes of 20 leva in circulation with a total value of over 2.4 billion leva.

A total of 448 counterfeit 20 leva notes were detected last year.

The latest issue of banknotes with a face value of 20 levs was in 2020. Measures against counterfeiting have been enhanced. An additional sign for the blind has been added - three thick and seven thin lines angled on the two short sides of the banknote.

The hologram strip has optical effects that alternate when the viewing angle changes - an image of an eagle and a lion. There is also a colour hologram portrait of Stefan Stambolov, a stylised image of the Order of Valour, images of an upright crowned lion with a dynamic effect and a volumetric three-dimensional image of the number 20.

Security thread - embedded in the paper, partially coming out in sectors on the reverse side, with a light repeated text 'BNB 20' and with a dynamic 'fan' effect, changing colour from green to blue. The image of the repeating text 'BNB 20' is read on the obverse when the note is placed against a light source.

High-resolution watermark - seen when the banknote is placed against a light source. It consists of a high-resolution halftone image of the portrait of Stefan Stambolov. The image is also visible on the reverse side of the banknote.