Catalog
1 Santeem FAO
| Issuer | National Bank of Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1977-2005 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Stylised bust of the Ethiopian lion facing right, depicted with a large head and uniformly rendered whiskers, rendered in a bold, graphic style. The Ge'ez legend reading 'Ethiopia' appears at the top of the field, with the Ethiopian calendar date inscribed below the effigy. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ኢትዮጵያ ፲፱፻፷፱ (Translation: Ethiopia 10 9 100 60 9 (meaning (10+9)*100+60+9 = 1969) (Ethiopian calendar)) |
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| Additional information |
Issued under the FAO's "Food for All" campaign, this coin was part of a coordinated global push in the 1970s to use circulating coinage as agricultural propaganda — dozens of nations struck FAO-themed pieces simultaneously, most of them tiny aluminum fractions that saw hard daily use and survive in quantity only in low grades. Ethiopia's participation reflected the bitter irony of the timing: the country was entering a period of recurring famine that would culminate in the catastrophic 1983–85 crisis, killing an estimated one million people.