Ethiopia EE1891-A gersh
The coin shown is a silver one gersh dated 1891 (Ethiopian Era). On the obverse is a portrait of King Menelik II. The date is along the base and is written in a format particular to Ethiopia, with an extra digit denoting magnitude. The reverse has the crowned lion of Judah with Amharic script in exergue. The mintmark A for Paris (and privy marks) are shown below the lion. The denomination 'gersh' is equivalent to 1/20 birr.
Menelik II brought the Ethiopian Empire into the modern world. Previous to his reign, transactions were by barter, salt, or by imported coins such as the Maria Teresa Thaler[1]. He instituted a state coinage and successfully defended the empire against the Italian invasion in 1896. Ethiopia dates its coins using the Julian calendar, which is backdated approximately 7 years from the Gregorian calendar.
Recorded mintage: 4,000,000.
Specification: 1.4038 g, 0.835 fine silver, 0.0377 ASW.
Catalog reference: KM 12.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Gill, Dennis, Coinage of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Italian Somalia, New York: Printing Mart of Long Island, Inc, 1991.
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