Bulgaria’s c-bank approves revised designs of country’s euro coins – with just one change
The governing council of central Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) approved on April 9 revised graphic designs of the Bulgarian national side of all denominations of euro coins – with the only change being the year of issue “2026”, BNB said.
Should the relevant EU institutions agree, in decisions expected in June 2025, Bulgaria will join the euro zone in January 2026. Bulgaria has requested convergence reports from the European Commission and the European Central Bank to open the way for this.
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, BNB said.
The graphic designs for the Bulgarian national side of the euro coins, approved in 2024, meet the requirements for the main motifs and mandatory design details, set out in a 2014 EU regulation on the 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; and for the Bulgarian two euro coins – 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.
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 one euro coins; and Paisy Hilendarski – on two euro coins.
“The reasons for this is that the symbols on the current Bulgarian circulation coins are established and well accepted by the citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria,” BNB said.
“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 central bank said.
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