Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Birr / Ethiopian Dollars
| Issuer | State Bank of Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945-1956 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a uniform blue, with an elaborate guilloche border frame enclosing a central oval vignette of the Lion of Judah, shown in profile walking rightward, bearing a cross-topped staff and flag, with mountains in the background. The denomination numeral '50' appears in the lower left and upper right corners, and a Ge'ez inscription runs along the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | P#15a - signature: Blowers P#15b - signature: Bennett P#15c - signature: Rozell |
| Comments |
The State Bank of Ethiopia was established in 1942 under Emperor Haile Selassie, replacing the Bank of Ethiopia which had been dissolved during the Italian occupation. This series — printed by the Security Banknote Company in Philadelphia — was Ethiopia's first fully domestic currency infrastructure following liberation, though the birr was officially pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate throughout the issue period.
Three distinct signature combinations are documented for P#15, reflecting successive senior appointments at the bank across the roughly eleven-year issue span. Rozell-signed examples tend to appear later in the run and are considerably scarcer than Blowers or Bennett-signed notes.