Catalog
1/8 Birr - Zauditu Pattern
| Issuer | Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1925 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/8 Birr / Thaler (የብር፡ትሙን) |
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| Obverse description | Veiled and crowned draped bust of Empress Zauditu facing left, wearing an imperial crown of fleur-de-lis form and a flowing veil, a cross pendant visible at the neck. The engraver's signature H. DAMMANN appears in small letters beneath the truncation. A Ge'ez legend encircles the effigy within a beaded border, with the Ethiopian regnal date in Ge'ez numerals at the base. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Ge'ez, Latin |
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| Additional information |
Zauditu, daughter of Emperor Menelik II, reigned as Empress from 1916 under the effective regency of Ras Tafari Makonnen — the future Haile Selassie. This pattern was struck in 1925, a period of increasingly open rivalry between the two, as Ras Tafari consolidated power by securing Ethiopia's admission to the League of Nations the previous year. Whether these gold patterns were ever seriously intended for circulation or produced purely as presentation pieces for foreign dignitaries remains unresolved.
Two catalogue variants under X#3.1 and X#3.2 suggest differing die states or edge treatments. Zauditu died in 1930, two days after Ras Tafari's forces defeated her husband at the Battle of Anchem.