Bulmint - 20 years of expert craftsmanship

Bulmint’s history began not with the excellent investment products it is known for today, but with silver sputtering targets made for the CD/DVD industry. In March of 2024, our company celebrated its 20th anniversary – in honour of this milestone, let us have a look at our organisation’s first two decades in the market.

Early years

In 2004, the company Targets opened its doors in Plovdiv - a company specialised in processing precious metals and manufacturing products meant for a number industries in the fields of chemistry and technology.

The company was founded by Eng. Plamen Zapryanov and D.Sc Ivan Panov. At the time of Targets’ creation, Eng. Zapryanov already had both knowledge and experience in processing precious metals, as well as a role model - his own father, who is among the founders of the Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals. The scale of the project, however, made him seek out a more experienced partner - this is what gave rise to his partnership with D.Sc Panov.

The first products to leave the industrial complex’s production lines are silver sputtering targets, used for the PVD coating of DVD layers. The facility also manufactured platinum crucibles and other products in the chemical industry.

The first major obstacle in Targets’ journey was the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009. The already limited size of the industry in this country significantly impacted the company’s growth - and the complicated economic circumstances struck an even harder blow against its prospects. The crisis shook all segments in the industry and brought orders to a halt. What ultimately saved the company were its precious metal reserves, which it managed to liquidate in time to keep itself from going under - a valuable lesson for the management team that determined the future of the business.

Transition towards the coinage industry

In 2010 Vladimir Spasov joined the company as manager and shareholder.

He first crossed paths with Eng. Zapryanov during a business deal. Their shared vision for the future and their complementary skills - in finance and in metallurgy, respectively - blossomed into a partnership and steered the company into a whole new direction.

From blanks to minted products

In the period following 2011, Targets’ focus gradually shifted and the company entered a completely new segment - bullion coin and round blank manufacturing.

The main challenge during this transitional period was not technological, but commercial - the closed off and conservative minting community is always reluctant to trust outsiders. In 2013 the company officially broke into the market when it received a coin blank production order from the Bulgarian National Bank. Through years of hard work and tenacity, Targets managed to secure its reputation as a reliable manufacturer of quality products.

Research into the field, however, showed that blank manufacturing could only be a roadside stop in the company’s long-term development strategy - and in 2015 Targets made the next great leap towards success by acquiring its first coin press. Over the next few years it began the activity that would decide its future in the precious metals market - minting finished original precious metal products in the form of collectible medals, definitively entering the world of minting.

How Targets became Bulmint

In 2017 Targets was fully rebranded, and out of the flames Bulmint was born - a highly equipped private mint with no equivalent in Bulgaria.

Parallel to the production of blanks for the coinage industry, our company began developing its own collectible medal portfolio. The main focus for this line of products was their artistic value, which in turn allowed us to develop the technological potential of our manufacturing. The proof quality that sets these collectibles and giftables apart is the highest the minting industry has to offer - alternating mirrorlike gloss and matt elements woven together into a beautiful combination of textures that highlights even the smallest details. The special effects - selective digital colorisation, personalisation through laser engraving and more - allow for additional flexibility when developing the designs.

Over the next few years the organisation underwent steadfast evolution that continues to this day.

Gradually the number of services the organisation offers grew to include everything our clients might need in addition to their order - both on the local and international markets.

A key milestone in the company’s growth was the establishment of the foundations of our very own gold refinery, along with an adjoined gold and silver assay laboratory. Deir integration brings us a step closer to closing the production cycle in-house - a business model that, alongside ease and better order execution time, carries with it the guarantee that every step of the production process will be carried out in accordance with Bulmint’s exceptionally high standards.

In order to ensure a constant flow of material for the refinery’s activity, we opened an office in Peru - one of the top ten sources of gold in the world according to GlobalData. Under the management of our AIG LATAM subsidiary we made the first steps towards establishing a long-term supply of doré bars for our production facility in Bulgaria - a semi-pure gold-silver alloy that is created on-site at the mine and then transported to the refinery for further purification.

Our company welcomed its next major milestone in 2021 when Bulmint’s first showroom officially opened its doors in the heart of Plovdiv.

The first Bulmmint-brand investment coin series

By 2022, Bulmint had established itself as the largest company in the Balkans - and one of the largest in Europe - in the field of precious metal refining and processing and product manufacturing. The company’s portfolio by then consisted of a wide variety of investment gold and silver bars with a purity of 999.9, as well as a diverse selection of art medals meant for private collections or to be given as gifts. Our second showroom opened its doors in the center of Sofia.

Parallel to the services we provide, we also develop our machinery park. The future of the industry lies in automation - much of the newly added equipment is in line with that exact belief, the newest of which is a fully automated silver blank polishing station. Thanks to this machine we set a new precedent in the coinage industry - investment products struck to prooflike bullion quality, manufactured on an industrial scale. This finish is visually similar to proof quality - matt intertwined with gloss that add an artistic note to the design that is atypical of regular bullion coins.

All of this elevated one of our lesser known product categories to new heights.

One aspect of Bullion’s activities remained out of the public’s eye up until very recently - made-to-order bullion coins and rounds for a network of international clients. The closed in-house production cycle, combined with the high level of professionalism, makes us a partner-of-choice for private and state mints and dealers on 5 continents - Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

In 2023 Bulmint reached one of the most highly-anticipated achievements in its history - we launched the first ever investment coin series manufactured and distributed under our own brand. The Phoenix coin series combines the intrinsic value of pure investment gold and silver with the excellent aesthetic qualities that have earned us a reputation as a world-class manufacturer. With high relief and a high level of detail, the design draws inspiration from the legend of the phoenix - a mythical bird that bursts into flames upon death, only to rise up from the ashes once more. Sacred and immortal, the symbolism of this creature largely overlaps with that of the precious metal in which the gold coins in the series embodied it - fire, life, immortality, and the sun.

This opened a new page in our history as a private mint. Soon after we welcomed the Phoenix series into our portfolio, we celebrated the launch of several more investment coins bearing the Bulmint name - each embodying the values that brought us here.

Bulmint on its 20th anniversary and beyond

We every passing year we celebrate greater success – both on the local market and internationally. We are proud of what we have achieved in the past 20 years – but our organisation’s story has only just begun. You can find out more about the most significant events since we entered the coinage industry right here on our blog – and our collectible, giftable, and investment gold and silver product portfolio is available in our online store as well as our showrooms in Sofia and Plovdiv.