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20 Birr / Ethiopian Dollars
| Issuer | State Bank of Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1956-1959 |
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| Currency | Birr / Ethiopian Dollar (1945-1976) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | የኢትዮጵያ፡መንግስት፡ባንክ፡ ሃያ፡የኢትዮጵያ፡ብር፡ TWENTY ETHIOPIAN DOLLARS ላምጪው፡አንዴከፈል፡ሕግ፡ያሰገዽዷል። PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND STATE BANK OF ETHIOPIA (Translation: State Bank of Ethiopia Twenty Ethiopian Birr Payable to the Bearer on Demand) |
| Reverse description | Central oval vignette contains the Lion of Judah, crowned and passant, holding a cross-topped staff with a banner, rendered in intaglio against a lathe-work background. The Ethiopic denomination inscription appears in a panel below the central vignette. Denomination indicators in Ethiopic script are at left and the numeral '20 E$' at right, all set within an intricate guilloche border in blue, grey, and pink tones. The printer's imprint 'BRADBURY, WILKINSON & CO. 12 NEW MALDEN, SURREY, ENGLAND.' appears in small text at the bottom centre. |
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| Comments |
The State Bank of Ethiopia was itself a short-lived institution — established in 1942 after Haile Selassie's restoration, it was split in 1963 into the National Bank of Ethiopia and the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, which means this series had a narrow window of possible issue dates regardless of what appears on individual specimens. Bradbury Wilkinson handled much of the bank's output during this period, a natural pairing given the firm's dominance in Commonwealth-adjacent and African central bank contracts through the 1950s.
The denomination in dual language — Birr and Ethiopian Dollars — reflects the transitional monetary nomenclature of the period, when Ethiopia was aligning its currency terminology with international usage for trade purposes while retaining the local Amharic designation.