2 leva BULGARIA (1976) 100^th Anniversary of April Uprising

above the coin centre wreath from oak leaves; inside in two lines: ВЕЧНА / СЛАВА (eternal glory); below year of issue: 1976 and face value: 2 ЛЕВА (leva); along the top edge: НАРОДНА РЕПУБЛИКА; along the bottom one: * БЪЛГАРИЯ * (People's Republic of Bulgaria)

in the coin centre a figure of Ivan Borimechkata; in the background a cannon; on the left a date: 1876; along the top edge: • АПРИЛСКО ВЪСТАНИЕ •; along the bottom one: СТО ГОДИНИ (the April Uprising - hundred years)

reeded

20 IV 1976

31 XII 1997

Стефан Ненов, Георги Чапкънов (initials CH and ГЧ below wreath on the obverse)
(Stefan Nenov, Georgi Chapkunov)

Монетен двор (The Mint), Sofia

1976

300 000

There exist 126 coins struck with a plain edge and concave inscription: ∙ БАТАК ∙ КОПРИВЩИЦА ∙ ПАНАГЮРИЩЕ ∙ КЛИСУРА ∙ ПЕРУЩИЦА (names of battlefields where insurgents fought against the Ottoman armies).

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.

The character of a friendly farmer-insurgent Ivan Borimechkata (Иван Боримечката) was invented by the writer Ivan Vazov (Иван Вазов 1850-1921) for the novel Under the Yoke (Под игото) published in 1894. The designers of the coin's reverse were inspired by the illustration by Ivan Mrkvichka (Иван Мърквичка) drawn for the first issue of the novel.