Bulgaria, Alexander I, Pattern 10 Stotinki, 1879, by A. Brichaut, in copper, arms and supporters, rev. triple-barred cross and legend, edge plain, 9.76g/5h (KM. –; Bruce –; cf. Heritage 10.iv.2014, 24224 and Stack’s, 10.i.2014, 341). Obverse extremely fine, reverse nearly so, very rare £400-600

Following the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-8 the Treaty of Berlin proposed an autonomous Bulgarian state, ruled by a non-Russian prince elected by a congress of Bulgarian worthies. Prince Alexander of Battenberg (1857-93), a nephew of Czar Alexander II, was proclaimed on 29 April 1879 and this piece is one of those produced by André Michaut at the Brussels mint to commemorate the occasion. Brichaut utilised the obverse design for the 10 santim essais struck in 1880; the first Bulgarian coinage proper did not appear until 1881