Catalog
10 Dollars - Hailé Selassié I Reverse trial
| Issuer | Ethiopian Empire (Ethiopia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1972 |
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| Currency | Birr / Ethiopian Dollar (1945-1976) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is uniface in presentation, bearing only the abbreviated mark 'MET' in Latin characters below a plain field, consistent with a trial or pattern piece submitted for approval. No additional design elements, portraiture, or decorative motifs are present, indicating this piece served as a reverse trial strike to test the die or planchet characteristics rather than as a circulating coin. |
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| Reverse lettering | MET |
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| Additional information |
Trial pieces for the aborted 1972 Ethiopian decimal coinage were produced in Addis Ababa ahead of a planned currency reform that never reached circulation — Haile Selassie was deposed by the Derg military junta in September 1974, ending both the imperial reign and any prospect of the new series entering use. Reverse trials in silver-plated bronze are production-stage tests, struck to evaluate die quality and relief without committing to precious metal blanks.
Fewer than a handful of confirmed examples are known to have left Ethiopia before the revolution scrambled imperial records and mint documentation.