Catalog
20 Birr / Ethiopian Dollars
| Issuer | State Bank of Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1956-1959 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Cotton paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Portrait of Emperor Haile Selassie I in intaglio engraving at right, wearing military uniform with decorations, facing three-quarters left. The Obelisk of Axum (Stele of Axum) vignette occupies the left side with surrounding landscape and structures. A multicolour guilloche rosette appears in the centre, with the denomination numeral '20' in each lower corner and Ethiopic script in the upper corners. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The State Bank of Ethiopia was itself a short-lived institution — established in 1942 after Haile Selassie's restoration, it was split in 1963 into the National Bank of Ethiopia and the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, which means this series had a narrow window of possible issue dates regardless of what appears on individual specimens. Bradbury Wilkinson handled much of the bank's output during this period, a natural pairing given the firm's dominance in Commonwealth-adjacent and African central bank contracts through the 1950s.
The denomination in dual language — Birr and Ethiopian Dollars — reflects the transitional monetary nomenclature of the period, when Ethiopia was aligning its currency terminology with international usage for trade purposes while retaining the local Amharic designation.