1 Birr - Menelik II Pattern

The 1897 Birr patterns for Menelik II were struck almost certainly in anticipation of the Emperor's dramatically elevated international standing following the Battle of Adwa in March of that year — the decisive Ethiopian victory over Italian forces that shocked European colonial powers and forced Italy to recognize Ethiopian sovereignty in the Treaty of Addis Ababa. A gold pattern of this weight would have served dynastic ambition as much as monetary planning, projecting the image of a modern sovereign state to a skeptical European audience.

No gold Birr ever entered regular circulation. The pattern remains one of very few physical artifacts connecting Adwa's political aftermath to Menelik's coinage program.