The collection “Sphragistics” of the National Museum of History consists of over 800 items. These are mainly seals covering chronologically the period from the 17th to the 1960s, which can be divided into several groups:
Seals of state institutions and institutions – here we should mention the seal with the coat of arms of the Principality of Bulgaria from the 1890s, seals of ministries, municipalities, diplomatic missions abroad, military units, etc.
Seals of schools, community centers and cultural institutions, including the seal of the Ephoria of Evlogy and Hristo Georgiev, the seals of the National Theatre and the National Opera, the Chitalishte “G. С. Rakovski” in Sofia, the Music School in Varna, etc.
Personal seals of prominent Bulgarians such as Generals Nikiforov Nikiforov and Radko Dimitriev, of prof. Vasil Zlatarski and prof. Petar Nikov, Col. Ivan Stanchev and others. Particularly valuable is the preserved seal of the Kotelen merchant Matej Hadjipetrov from the middle of the 19th century.
Seals related to the activities of the Bulgarian Exarchate in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among them are seals of the Exarchate, the seal of Exarch Joseph I, of Metropolitan Meletios of Vele, of Bulgarian communities, schools and churches in Adrianople and Macedonia.
Personal seals with inscriptions in Ottoman-Turkish, some of the oldest items in the collection belong to this group.
Stamps related to the activities of the Communist Party in Bulgaria before and after 9 September 1944 – of party groups and organizations from various Bulgarian settlements, partisan stamps, stamps of local organizations, of the Union of Fighters against Fascism; fake police stamps, etc.
Copies and reproductions of seals from the Bulgarian Revival, including seals used in the revolutionary activity of Vasil Levski, personal seals of prominent revivalists, seals of community centers and schools.
