20.03.2015Unique Municipal Bank Coin Becomes Part of Valuable Coin Collection of National Museum of History

• Municipal Bank gave a coin with the image of the Goddess of Prosperity, Tyche, patron of ancient Sofia, as a present to the National Museum of History;
• This is the first of a special limited series of three coins dedicated to Sofia.
• The National Museum of History acquired a unique coin with the image of the Goddess of Prosperity, Tyche, as a gift from Municipal Bank, at a special ceremony today.

Sasho Tchakalski and Nikolay Kolev, Executive Directors of Municipal Bank, handed the special gift of the first coin dedicated to Sofia to Prof. Bozhidar Dimitrov, PhD, Director of the National Museum of History. The coin with the image of Tyche is the first of a special limited series of three coins, called “Sofia Through the Ages”.

“We are honoured to give this unique coin with the patron goddess of Serdica, Tyche, as a present to the National Museum of History. The coin has a limited mintage of 1000 copies worldwide. It was minted from a precious metal – silver of the highest purity,” Sasho Tchakalski, Executive Director and Chairman of the Management Board of Municipal Bank, said.

“I would like to thank Municipal Bank for providing an occasion with this coin to remember the rich history of Sofia dating back thousands of years,” Prof. Bozhidar Dimitrov, PhD, Director of the National Museum of History, said. The image of Tyche was a symbol of ancient Serdica and was placed on the first coins of the city, minted in small series at the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 A.D.). Only a few ancient coins have been discovered with her image and that makes them exceptionally valuable worldwide. This coin will therefore deservedly occupy its worthy place in the treasury of the National Museum of History.

Tyche was the Goddess of Prosperity and protector of the ancient city of Serdica. It symbolized good fortune, luck and wealth. The inscription curves along the oval of the coin, reading the Latin maxim “Crede, quod habes, et habes” and its translation into Bulgarian „Вярвай, че имаш и ще имаш“ (“Believe that you have and you will have.”). The name of the city in Greek and Bulgarian has also been written – respectively “CEPΔΩN” and „София“.

The second coin of the series, which is expected to be issued in September, will be with the images of Kaloyan and his wife Desislava from the period of medieval Sredets. The third will be released in 2016 and depict modern day Sofia.

“We decided to make this limited series coin in honour of our city. The Bulgarian capital has an extremely rich cultural and historical heritage, which we can be proud of. The “Sofia Through the Ages” Series is a small but really special symbol of the great history of Sofia,” Nikolay Kolev, Executive Director of Municipal Bank, added.