Bulgaria 1,000 Leva, 1994-1997 P-105

Хиляда Лева Българска Народна Банка Васил Левски 1837-1873

On the left we see the portrait of Vasil Levski (1837-1873) who is considered to be a national hero of Bulgaria. Vasil Levski ideologised and strategised a revolutionary movement to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. We see one of his legendary quotes written besides his portrait in Bulgarian: "If I shall win, I shall win for the entire people. If I shall lose, I shall lose only myself" signed Vasil Levski. To the right we see a litography named "Liberated Bulgaria" from the Bulgarian artist Georgi Danchov.

Хиляда Лева Българска Народна Банка За подправка виновните се наказват съгласно закона

On the back we see the the monument of Vasil Levski which can be found in the center of Sofia. To the right we see an image of a gun, a knife and a Christian cross on top of a book. These were part of the initiation ritual of the Internal Revolutionary Organisation (IRO) which was established by Vasil Levski. Individuals obtained IRO membership in secrecy: the initiation ritual involved a formal oath of allegiance over the Gospel or a Christian cross, a gun and a knife. The lettering we see is a written oath of Vasil Levski after the general meeting in Bucharest on 16 June 1872, which authorizes him to do his work in the entire country.