The Lev (Bulgarian: лев, plural: лева, левове / leva, levove) is the currency of Bulgaria. In archaic Bulgarian the word "lev" meant "lion", a word which in the modern language became lăv (in Bulgarian: лъв). The lev is divided in 100 stotinki (стотинки, singular: stotinka, стотинка).
The Lev was introduced as Bulgaria's currency in 1881 with a value equal to the French Franc. The gold standard was suspended between 1899 and 1906 and suspended again in 1912. Until 1916, Bulgaria's silver and gold coins were issued to the same specifications as those of the Latin Monetary Union. Thus, a Twenty Leva coin was a high-value denomination at the time (normally served by a banknote), so not many of them were issued.
The coins have an edge inscription reading "БОЖЕ ПАЗИ БЪЛГАРИЯ", meaning "God save Bulgaria".
The 1894 issue was struck in Austria-Hungary, as part of a three-coin series including a gold 10 Leva coin, gold 20 Leva and gold 100 Leva.
Bulgaria was a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire at the time, so the monarch is styled Prince and not Tsar as on his later coinage. | 
Search for Bulgaria: Twenty Leva 1894 on eBay 
