1 Gersh - Menelik II Pattern

Menelik II issued this pattern in 1897 — the same year Ethiopian forces decisively defeated the Italian army at Adwa, a victory that forced Italy to recognize Ethiopian sovereignty under the Treaty of Addis Ababa and left Menelik consolidating both political and monetary authority over a newly legitimized empire. Pattern coinage from this moment reflects deliberate state-building: testing denominational systems and international presentability simultaneously. Whether this piece was struck in Addis Ababa or abroad remains unresolved, and no regular-issue gold gersh for circulation followed it.