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20 Nakfa
| Issuer | Bank of Eritrea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#4 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 20 STATE OF ERITREA 20 Legal tender of Eritrea 20 TWENTY NAKFA |
| Reverse description | Agricultural vignette occupying the central and right portion of the note, illustrating a farmer plowing with a camel, a woman engaged in hand harvesting, and a woman operating a farm tractor. The composition reflects post-independence themes of rural development and self-sufficiency, with denomination numerals and bank name inscriptions bordering the design. |
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| Comments |
Eritrea's 1997 banknote series — including this 20 Nakfa — was the country's first full domestic currency issue, replacing the Ethiopian birr that had circulated following independence in 1993. The nakfa itself was introduced in November 1997, and the timing was deliberately linked to ongoing tensions with Ethiopia over trade and monetary policy; Addis Ababa's decision to require hard currency for bilateral trade had effectively made a separate Eritrean currency both politically necessary and economically urgent.
Giesecke & Devrient's involvement was expected for a new sovereign issue of this period, and Clarence Holbert — a designer with prior African currency work — handled the series. The nakfa takes its name from the town of Nakfa in the Sahel region, a stronghold during the independence war.