1 Lira / 2⁄10 Rial - Umberto I

Italian Eritrea was declared a colony in January 1890, and the dual-denomination struck on this coin — Lira for domestic Italian accounting, Rial fraction for local Red Sea trade — reflects the immediate practical problem Rome faced: Ethiopian, Egyptian, and Indian Ocean commerce ran on Maria Theresa Thalers and their subdivisions, not the metric lira system. The 2/10 Rial designation was a deliberate concession to that reality.

Production ran across six years but mintage was never large. The colony's economy remained thin, and much everyday exchange in Massawa and Asmara continued through barter and foreign specie long after these coins entered circulation.