Balkanologie VIII (2), décembre 2004, p. 7-31 \ 7 CHANGE THE REGIME - CHANGE THE MONEY: BULGARIAN BANKNOTES, 1885-2003 Adrian ε. Tschoegl* This paper follows the changes in the images in Bulgaria's notes from the first issue in 1885 to the most recent in 2003. In that period, Bulgaria has gone from being a monarchy to a Communist Peoples' Republic then to a Parliamentary Republic, and the pictorial elements of its money have reflected those changes. Although it is an obvious point that changes in political re gimes lead to changes in the images on the emanations of the State, be they its banknotes, coins, flags, or postage stamps, still this point has not appeared in the literature on these emanations1. BANKNOTES AND THE IDEA OF NATIONAL MONEY We see money every day, but because of its familiarity we rarely observe it. Though often aesthetically beautiful, a banknote is an oblong piece of paper without intrinsic value2. However, the banknote is also a means of communi cation ; it has symbols and images on it that carry information. Banknotes re present a unique documentation because they combine in one medium com- * Adjunct Associate Professor of Management, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
[email protected] 1 I would like to thank Stanley Brunn, John Dunn, Jeffrey Miller and Georgi Spiridonov who assisted in di verse ways and Anca Metiu who provided helpful comments on an earlier draft. I would like to thank as well Garry Saint Esq. of Numismondo who kindly made available excellent scans of the banknotes that I have used in this paper.