- Gold .999
The Virgin Mary
2003 · 20 leva · Bulgarian National Bank
Specifications
- Metal
- Gold 999/1000
- Weight
- 1.55 g
- Fine gold content
- 1.55 g (0.0498 oz t)
- Diameter
- 13.92 mm
- Quality
- Proof
- Official mintage
- 20,000
- Year of issue
- 2003
- Series
- Bulgarian Iconography
- Designer
- Elena Todorova and Ivan Todorov
- Minted by
- Sofia, Bulgaria
- Catalogue no.
- BC-2003-04
- Issue price
- 67.00 лв
- ≈ €34.26 · BNB, 2003
- Market value (asking prices)
- €500.00
- 1 listing (asking price) · Balkan Auction, 19 Oct 2026
- Melt value
- €184.50
- Au spot €3,706.07/oz · Oct 2026
Market prices – asking prices
Asking prices on Balkan Auction, 19 Oct 2026
- Ungraded coins
- €500.00
- median asking price €500.00 · 1 listing
Sample listings
- 20 лева 2003 Богородица€500.00
Asking prices of active listings (fixed price, starting price or current highest bid) in the public coin category of Balkan Auction. These are asking prices, not completed sales. Lots, sets, replicas, error varieties and precious-metal prices below the metal value are excluded. BulgarianCoins does not buy, sell or value coins.
What if you had bought it at issue?
- Issue price (BNB, 2003)
- €34.26
- Asking price now (median)
- €500.00
- Change in value
- €465.74
- Total return
- +1360%
- Compounded yearly return
- +12.2%a year, over 23.3 years
Quick calculator
Indicative only: the current price is the median of asking prices on Balkan Auction on 19 Oct 2026, not a sale price; fees, taxes and condition are not included.
Relative rarity
6/10 · Scarce
How we calculate it
The score starts from the mintage on a logarithmic scale (500 coins or fewer = 10, ten million = 1). Coins of the Principality and the Kingdom that circulated get extra points, because much of that silver and gold was melted down and many coins were lost in the wars and withdrawn in 1952. Modern commemorative coins lose a point, since almost all of them survive in collections. Finally we look at how often the coin is offered on Balkan Auction: frequent offers lower the score.
Bulgarian Coin Exchange · Beta
Own this coin? Sell it at auction or at a fixed price to other collectors on the Bulgarian Coin Exchange. We do not buy or sell coins ourselves.
Obverse
The obverse of the coin features the logo of the Bulgarian National Bank and written in circumference are the text ‘БЪЛГАРСКА НАРОДНА БАНКА’ (BULGARIAN NATIONAL BANK), the year of issue ‘2003’ and the nominal value of the coin ‘20 ЛЕВА’ (20 BGN).
Reverse
The reverse of the coin features Virgin Mary with Jesus Christ and the letters: МР and QY.
Edge & packaging
Flat edge. Issued in a protective capsule with an information leaflet. The BNB advises keeping the capsule closed.
Image: The Boyana Church, Sofia · Todor Bozhinov / Тодор Божинов, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
About this coin
The Virgin Mary
A 20 leva gold coin issued by the Bulgarian National Bank in 2003, part of the Bulgarian Iconography series. 20,000 pieces were minted in Sofia, Bulgaria, to a design by Elena Todorova and Ivan Todorov.
Sources: BNB coin page · BNB register and prices · market listing 1
News from the series
All news →-
BNB issues its first gold coin in euro: St Ivan of Rila
A 100-euro, 8.64 g Au .999 coin in a 3,000 mintage, priced at €1,508 and limited to one per buyer. It is the fifth and last BNB collector coin of 2026. -
St Patriarch Euthymius of Tarnovo: the BNB’s last gold coin in leva
St Patriarch Euthymius of Tarnovo: mintage 3,000, issue price 2,590 leva. On sale from 24 November 2025. -
Sts Peter and Paul: a gold coin in the Bulgarian Iconography series
Sts Peter and Paul: mintage 4,000, issue price 1,757 leva. On sale from 24 June 2024.
