Catalog
5 Dollars Menelik II
| Issuer | Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1972 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Ge'ez, Latin |
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| Reverse description | A dignified right-facing bust portrait of Emperor Menelik II dominates the central field, depicted wearing an elaborately decorated imperial crown and a draped garment. The emperor's beard and facial features are rendered in fine sculptural relief. A Ge'ez legend curves along the upper periphery, flanked by the regnal dates 1889 and 1913 in Latin numerals positioned to the left and right of the bust respectively. The Latin inscription MENELIK II EMPEROR OF ETHIOPIA arcs along the lower border. |
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| Additional information |
Though dated 1972, this coin bears the name of Menelik II, the emperor who decisively defeated the Italian army at Adwa in 1896 — the battle that preserved Ethiopian independence and made Menelik a pan-African symbol for decades after his death in 1913. The issue belongs to a commemorative series released under Haile Selassie, who used Menelik's image strategically to reinforce dynastic legitimacy through claimed descent from the Solomonic line.
Selassie was deposed by the Derg military junta just two years after this coin was struck.