Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Birr - Menelik II Pattern
| Issuer | Ethiopian Empire (Ethiopia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1902 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Birr / Thaler (አንድ፡ብር) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain, largely blank field surrounded by a continuous wreath of stylized laurel or olive leaves encircling the inner field, with the wreath tips meeting at the base. The central field is unadorned and shows the characteristics of an unfinished or trial reverse, consistent with pattern coinage. The coin retains visible planchet marks and surface texture within the field. A plain raised rim borders the wreath on the outer edge. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
This 1902 pattern was struck in anticipation of a currency reform that would standardize Ethiopian coinage under Menelik II, who had already consolidated imperial authority following the decisive defeat of the Italian army at Adwa in 1896. The Adwa victory gave Menelik both the political standing and, critically, the financial leverage — including indemnity payments and foreign loans — to pursue an independent monetary program rather than rely on the Maria Theresa Thaler that had dominated Ethiopian trade for generations.
White metal patterns of this type were almost certainly struck in Paris or Vienna for presentation and approval purposes, never intended for circulation.