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50 Thalers / Birr
| Issuer | Bank of Abyssinia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1929 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 187 × 87 mm |
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| Obverse description | A large intaglio vignette of a standing lion occupies the centre of the note, with a circular guilloche underprint framing it; a vignette of a classical building (the Bank of Abyssinia premises) appears at upper left within an oval frame, and a lion passant guardant vignette is set within a corresponding oval at upper right. The denomination numeral "50" appears at both upper corners, and the printer's imprint "Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Graveurs, Londres" is inscribed along the lower margin. Bilingual legends in French and Ge'ez (Amharic) script appear across the face, together with the bank title in English at top. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANK OF ABYSSINIA የኢትዮጵያ፡ባንክ። CINQUANTE THALERS አምሳ፡ብር። PAYABLES À ADIS-ABABA AU PORTEUR አዲስ፡አበባ፡ላይ፡ለሚጠይቁ፡ይሰጣል። (Translation: Bank of Ethiopia Fifty Thalers Payable at Addis Ababa to Bearer) |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Abyssinia was not an Ethiopian institution in any meaningful sense of independence — it was established in 1905 as a concession granted to the Bank of Egypt, itself controlled by a consortium of European interests. The Ethiopian imperial government held no operational control. That arrangement held until 1931, when Haile Selassie nationalized the bank and replaced it with the Bank of Ethiopia, rendering the entire Abyssinian series obsolete overnight.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the notes in London across a span of roughly fifteen years, with issue dates applied locally. The 50 Birr was the highest denomination in the series and saw limited penetration into the interior, where barter and Maria Theresa thalers remained the dominant medium of exchange well into the 1930s.