1 lev BULGARIA (1976) 100^th Anniversary of April Uprising

above the coin centre lion from Bulgarian Coat of Arms; below year of issue: 1976 and face value: 1 ЛЕВ (lev); along the top edge: НАРОДНА РЕПУБЛИКА; along the bottom one: * БЪЛГАРИЯ * (People's Republic of Bulgaria)

in the coin centre a pistol crossed with a sabre; above an inscription: СВОБОДА ИЛИ СМЪРТ (freedom or death - motto written on flags of insurgents); below a date: 1876; along the top edge: • АПРИЛСКО ВЪСТАНИЕ •; along the bottom one: СТО ГОДИНИ (the April Uprising - hundred years)

plain with concave inscription: ∙ БУНТ ∙ БУНТ ∙ НА ОРЪЖИЕ (mutiny, mutiny, to arms! - citation from Notes on Bulgarian Uprisings by Zahari Stoyanov)

20 IV 1976

31 XII 1997

Стефан Ненов, Георги Чапкънов (initials CH and ГЧ below handles of sabre and pistol on the reverse)
(Stefan Nenov, Georgi Chapkunov)

Монетен двор (The Mint), Sofia

1976

300 000

The April Uprising (Априлско въстание) was the largest and best organised uprising against the Ottoman Empire. It began on April 20, 1876 according to the Julian calendar, which was May 2, 1876 according to the current Gregorian calendar. The uprising was brutally suppressed, but European empires got interested in the situation of Bulgarians and were trying to force the Ottoman Empire to acknowledge autonomy for Bulgarians. Ottoman refusal became the pretext for an attack of Russia on the Ottoman Empire and after a successful war Russia delivered to Bulgarians their independence on the conquered Turkish lands in 1878.