Ethiopian Birr EE1892(AD1900)

Started by Austrokiwi, July 05, 2010, 07:10:09 PM

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Austrokiwi

I have been hunting for nice examples of Meneliks Birrs.  A few weeks ago I gave up and picked up a VF example of the second type.............as usually happens I then found a high grade example. Although the first type is the rarer I like the second.... the Lion of Judah is much more impressive.  The lion on the first type appears,to me, to have a kittens face wearing a father Christmas style moustache and beard

Austrokiwi

Photograph of the reverse:


Austrokiwi

Designer is Jules Clement Chaplain, who adapted the previous design of Lagrange ( 1st type). Mint is Paris

Prosit

I have seen that design before and it always impresses me.  Nice coin!  Congratulations!
Dale

Figleaf

#4
The intricate work of the crown alone makes this a masterpiece, but the two faces give this coin an extra quality. While I am not a chaser of high grades, I must admit that the combination of high grade and superb enlargement is a sight to behold. Thanks, Austrokiwi!

This inspired me to open a thread on Jules Chaplain.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Austrokiwi

#5
Quote from: Figleaf on July 06, 2010, 01:50:29 PM
While I am not a chaser of high grades, I must admit that the combination of high grade and superb enlargement is a sight to behold.

This inspired me to open a thread on Jules Chaplain.

Peter

Thanks for the appreciation of this coin y'all. With my main collecting focus ( restrike Maria Theresa Thaler variants) I don't really worry so much about grade. In fact with the MTT there is something reassuring about an obviously circulated example.  However in the case of the Ethiopian Birr, especially this second type worn examples loose a considerable amount of aesthetic appeal, for the simple reason that the impressive detail on the coin is lost. That lion with a worn nose just doesn't look so fierce!

RVCOINS

What a very beautiful coin, you see them seldom in this quality.

congrat.

Roland

<k>

Quote from: Austrokiwi on July 05, 2010, 08:10:40 PM
Designer is Jules Clement Chaplain, who adapted the previous design of Lagrange ( 1st type). Mint is Paris

From "Coin Designers, Modelers and Engravers (2008 Edition)" by Charles R Hosch.

LAGRANGE, JEAN (06 NOV 1831 – ?)
Jean Lagrange was Chief Engraver of the Paris Mint (Monnaie de Paris) from 1880 t0 1896, but did not design any coins
of France.
Designs: Ethiopia Obverse & Reverse/ 1 G., 1/100 B., 1/32 B., 1/8 B., 1/4 B., ½ B., 1 B. 1890s KM-8, 9, 10, 2, 3, 4, 5. Guatemala O&R/
½ R., 1 R., 2 R., 4 R., 1 P. KM-164, 165, 154, 150, 197. Reunion O&R/ 50 c., 1 Fr. 1896 KM-4, 5.

Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Austrokiwi

Again I learn: treat what you read with care and caution! 

While checking details in an article I am just finishing off I happened upon an apparent contradiction in the literature ( As I am discovering with my own writing  such contradictions are very easy to produce). 

Gill in the book " The Coinage of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Italian Somalia" 1991 lists that the Total mintage was 401000 for the coin in this thread. However in another reference I found some discrepancy with the reported Paris mintage numbers which are: in 1898 200,000 were produced and in 1899 201000 were produced.  The EE 1892 date is equated mostly in literature with 1900 but in reality it encompasses 1899-1900. Now looking at the slight discrepancy. To me it now seems likely that  the EE 1892 coin as minted in 1898 ( year before) and 1899. So to be accurate in AD terms the Birr in this thread is better described as an AD 1899 coin.   Now it may not seem that important but when it comes to the proof examples ( the coin pictured in this thread is a Matt proof) it seems likely to me they would have been most likely minted in the first year of production ie: 1898.

Can any one steer me to a reference on the Paris mint that would confirm the cited mintage numbers?