Ethiopian Menelik II coinage

Ethiopian Menelik II coinage comprises machine-struck silver and copper currency introduced under Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, representing one of the earliest modern African national coinages. As early as 1875, whilst king of Shewa, Menelik had considered issuing an Ethiopian currency. Although an additional convention to the 1889 Treaty of Uccialli arranged for coinage to be produced at the Italian royal mint, deteriorating relations between the two nations prior to the First Italo-Abyssinian War prevented significant output. In February 1893, Menelik issued an imperial decree establishing the national coinage, setting out its design and authorising four silver and three copper denominations.

The earliest pieces were minted in 1894 and 1896 in modest quantities, with some subsequently melted down for jewellery. Following the Ethiopian victory at the Battle of Adowa, a revised coinage emerged, manufactured at the Paris Mint. This series preserved the standard silver birr alongside the silver half and quarter birr. A silver gersh was introduced, valued initially at a twentieth of a birr and subsequently at a sixteenth, while the copper metonnya was issued at one-hundredth of a birr. Over twenty million birr and fractional coins were struck by 1915, although they initially struggled against the Maria Theresa thaler and circulated primarily in Addis Ababa.

In terms of design, the coinage displays a crowned imperial portrait on the obverse and the Lion of Judah on the reverse. Produced in silver and copper, the series encompasses the full birr, fractional silver denominations, and the copper metonnya. The inscriptions record dates according to the Ethiopian calendar, which differs from the Gregorian calendar and necessitates chronological conversion to determine the Western year of manufacture.