100 Thalers / Birr

The Bank of Ethiopia, established in 1931 as the first indigenous bank on the African continent, issued this series as part of Haile Selassie's broader modernization program following his coronation the previous year. Bradbury Wilkinson had long-standing ties to colonial and newly independent currency programs alike, and their involvement here was entirely practical — Ethiopia lacked domestic printing infrastructure of any kind.

The dual denomination wording, Thalers and Birr, reflects the transitional monetary moment: the Maria Theresa Thaler had circulated in Ethiopia for over a century as the de facto hard currency, and the new paper issue had to acknowledge that reality to achieve any public credibility at all.

The series was short-lived. Italian forces occupied Addis Ababa in 1936, and the Bank of Ethiopia ceased operations entirely under the occupation.