The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has approved changes to its 2026 Coin Programme and its preliminary coin programme for 2027–2028 to reflect Bulgaria’s entry into the euro area on 1 January 2026. From that date, BNB will begin issuing collector euro coins, replacing the commemorative coins it has issued up to the end of 2025, and will stop issuing lev-denominated precious-metal and copper coins, closing the relevant lev series and collections. The Governing Council also decided to rename the programmes and reorganise their content by creating separate sections for collector and commemorative coins planned for issuance. Under the European legal framework, collector euro coins are legal tender only in the issuing country and will carry euro face values that differ from circulating euro coin denominations. From 1 January 2026, BNB set collector-coin denominations at EUR 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 for precious-metal coins and EUR 5 for copper coins, and changed the copper coin “150 years since the birth of Krastyo Sarafov” (Bulgarian Creators series, 2026 issue) from EUR 2 to EUR 5. It will also discontinue the gold commemorative coin “St. Theotokos – Golden Apple” with no defined mintage from 1 January 2026 and adopted a concept for its approach to issuing collector and commemorative coins with a Bulgarian national side.
National Bank of Bulgaria 2025-09-16
Bulgarian National Bank revises 2026 and 2027–2028 coin programmes for euro adoption and euro collector coin issuance
The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has revised its 2026 Coin Programme and preliminary programme for 2027–2028 to align with Bulgaria's euro area entry on 1 January 2026. From this date, BNB will issue collector euro coins, ceasing lev-denominated coin issuance. The programmes have been renamed and reorganized, with collector euro coins set at denominations of EUR 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 for precious metals and EUR 5 for copper.