Ethiopian Birr

On the territory of Ethiopia, the first own coins — — were minted in the kingdom of Aksum , beginning with the second and ending with the eleventh century. Then, until the beginning of the XIX century, the release of their own money is not made. Byzantine coins , coins of the Arab Caliphate and other Islamic states were used, as well as bars of salt , the so-called " Amol " .

In 1807–86, Sultan Harer minted his own coins. Sometimes in the 19th century, local counter-pegs were made on coins of other countries.

In the 18th and first half of the 20th century, Maria Theresa’s thaler was the most popular coin on the territory of modern Ethiopia, which was first issued as an instrument of domestic monetary circulation, but then it was used for foreign trade. As a trading coin, the thaler of Maria Theresa continued to be produced until the middle of the 20th century (including other countries by agreement with Austria). From 1751 to 2000, about 389 million copies were minted, which became the most common in the Levant and Northeast Africa. From these regions, neither the , nor the Löwendalder , nor the minted trade coins of other countries ^{[1] [2],} could replace it.

The name of this most popular coin of the region is Amharic in the language of Geez - “Byr” (ብር), which means “ silver ” (derived from a more ancient root - “to be white”). All coins of the type of local coinage, the Abyssinian thaler , the Eritrean thaler , and the Ethiopian dollar, became steel.

On February 9, 1893, the emperor of Abyssinia, Menelik II (1889-1913), introduced the Abyssinian thaler (other variants of the name: “ Ethiopian thaler ”, “ thaler Menelik ”, “ talari ”, “byr” or “ber”), almost corresponding to silver talera Maria Theresa. From 1915 to 1936, banknotes were printed in Abyssinia. In Amharic, their dignity was indicated in Byrah, in French - in thalers.

In 1908–1928, in parallel with the Abyssinian thaler on the territory of Ethiopia, the French franc was in circulation, and also the thaler of Maria Theresa.

On June 1, 1936, Italian East Africa was formed from three Italian colonies — old Eritrea and Somalia , as well as a new Ethiopia . The official currency was the Italian lira , but Maria Théresia’s thalers continued to appeal, the Abyssinian and Eritrean thalers continued to imitate, as well as the Somali lira . Since 1938, the lyre of the Italian East Africa , equivalent to the Italian lira, has appeared in circulation. Banknotes denominated in the Abyssinian thalers and Somali lira were withdrawn from circulation.

In 1940–1941, as the territory of Italian East Africa passed under British control, instead of the lira, the East African shilling was introduced into the conquered territories (equal to the English shilling , that is, ¹ ₂₀ pounds sterling ), and the thaler circulation was resumed in Ethiopia. The appeal of thaler Maria Theresa persisted. The Egyptian pound , Indian rupee and pound sterling were also used ^{[3] [4]} .

Ethiopia was under the protectorate of the British administration until 1952. During its period of action, July 23, 1945, the Ethiopian dollar (Birr) was issued , completely replacing the East African shilling and the Ethiopian thaler in February 1946. 1 new birr (dollar) = 2 shillings = 0.66 old birr (talari) ^{[3] [4]} .

On September 15, 1952, Ethiopia and Eritrea became part of an independent federative monarchy . In 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie I abolished the federal structure of the country, resulting in a long war for the independence of Eritrea , which finally ended only on May 24, 1993. During the war years, September 21, 1976, Ethiopia replaced the dollar with the Ethiopian birr in a 1: 1 ratio. The former name used on the banknotes remained in Amharic, it was written in English as birr .

Having gained independence, Eritrea continued to use the new currency of Ethiopia until November 8, 1997, when nakfa was introduced into circulation in the ratio of 1: 1. Byr remains the basic monetary unit of Ethiopia ^{[5] [3] [4]} .

Coins were issued in 1969 and 1996-1998 according to the Ethiopian calendar . The dates of the Ethiopian calendar are about 8 years behind the dates of the Western calendar, so the dates indicated correspond to the years 1977 and 2004–2005 . er The following denominations were minted (years are indicated according to the Ethiopian calendar):

• 1 cent (not released in 1996)
• 5 cents (the most recent issue is dated 1998)
• 10 cents (the most recent issue is dated 1996)
• 25 cents (or " semuni"; the most recent issue is dated 1996)
• 50 cents (most recent issue dated 1996)

Dates, as well as other inscriptions, are in Amharic , the official language of Ethiopia.

All inscriptions on the coins are made in the Amharic language . On one side, the head of a roaring lion with a flowing mane is necessarily minted.

Coins were minted in a number of mints, including in Paris, Berlin and Addis Ababa. Coins without stamps of the mint, as a rule, were minted in Addis Ababa. On coins minted in Paris, there is either a stamp “A” with private stamps depicting a cornucopia and a bundle of twigs of a lictor, or a picture of a cornucopia and torch without the letter “A”.

Currently in circulation are banknotes of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 byr of the years 1997–2013. Banknotes of all series until 1997 were canceled. Banknotes in 50 and 10 byrs since 2003 are issued with additional security features.

• Ethiopian economy
• Graphic sign of the Belarusian ruble Br

• Currencies of World Countries: A Handbook / [Authors: Butakov DD, Zolotarenko E.D., Rybalko GP] / Ed. Borisova S.M., Rybalko G.P., Mozhayskova O.V. - 5th ed., Revised. and add. - M .: Finance and Statistics , 1987.
• Numismatic Dictionary / [Author: Zvarych V.V. ]. - 4th ed .. - Lviv: High School, 1980.
• Numismatic Dictionary / [Authors: Fengler H., Girou G., Unger V.] / Trans. with him. MG Arsen'eva / Ed. ed. V.M. Potin. - 2nd ed., Pererab. and additional .. - M .: Radio and communication, 1993. - ISBN 5-256-00317-8 .
• Global History of Currencies . - Global Financial Data, 2010. Archived copy dated April 4, 2014 on the Wayback Machine

• Don Norris World Coin Gallery - Ethiopia (English)
• Ron Wise World Paper Money Gallery - Ethiopia ^Mirror (Eng.)
• World History of Money Circulation - Ethiopia (English)
• Global Financial Data - Ethiopia Birr (English)
• Global currency data global currency history table (   in Microsoft Excel format )
• Ethiopia Banknote Gallery (him)