20 Birr International Year of the Child, Piedfort

Piedfort issues — struck at double the normal planchet thickness — were a specialty of the Franklin Mint during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the firm aggressively courted developing-nation governments seeking prestige collector pieces. Ethiopia's participation in the International Year of the Child program (declared by the UN for 1979) produced this heavyweight variant alongside a standard-thickness version. The Franklin Mint's involvement meant tight quality control on the dies but equally aggressive distribution through subscription sales rather than conventional numismatic channels.

KM#P1 designation confirms it as Ethiopia's first catalogued piedfort.