Coin Item Number: Ca60 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Round, scalloped edges partly reeded; bust above text; lion above text. Obverse has bust of Haile Selassie I, facing left, above the date 1936 in Ethiopian figures. Reverse has crowned lion facing right, carrying a pole with a banner, above text.
Circulating small-denomination coin, valued at 25 cents. The scalloped edge is an anti-counterfeit measure put in place by the Bank of Ethiopia. Counterfeiters would dip 25 cent copper pieces in a nickel solution to pass them off as 50 cent silver coin as they were the same size and shape; now, only copper pieces have the distinct edge. This coin bears the Ethiopian date 1936, corresponding to 1944 C.E., but was actually issued 1952-53. The Ethiopian birr was established in the years following World War II and Ethiopia's liberation from Italian occupation. The currency itself was an assertion of Ethiopian independence and sovereignty.
currency; exchange