Catalog
500 Thalers / Birr
| Issuer | Bank of Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1932-1933 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | At left, a full-length vignette of a traditionally robed Ethiopian warrior holding a shield and spear, with elaborate headdress; at upper centre, the imperial arms of Ethiopia with a lion passant; at right, a vignette of the Bank of Ethiopia building rendered in fine intaglio line work. The denomination "500" appears in large numerals at lower left and upper right corners, with the bank name in both Latin and Ge'ez scripts across the upper portion, date and serial number hand-inscribed in manuscript, and a cursive signature below the promise-to-pay clause. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 500 የኢትዮጵያ፡ባንክ። ፭፻ (Translation: Bank of Ethiopia 500) |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Ethiopia, established in 1931 as the first indigenous bank on the African continent, issued this series under Haile Selassie's direct patronage as part of a broader push to consolidate financial infrastructure ahead of what would prove to be a brief window of independence. Bradbury Wilkinson had long supplied high-security intaglio printing to colonial administrations across Africa, so contracting them was a practical choice — though in this case the client was an independent sovereign state, not a colonial office.
Italy's 1936 invasion effectively ended the Bank of Ethiopia's operational life. Notes of the higher denominations, including this 500 Birr, had extremely limited practical circulation given the economic scale of the country at the time, and surviving examples in any condition are genuinely uncommon.