(Ahem: Girsh or Gersh. missed the "r" sorry) In the Coin Chat thread on Dates, Miss Sasha opined: Well, I just did. According to Domestic and Foreign Coins Manufactured by the United States 1793-1970 (Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Mint, Washington DC, 1972), the US Mint did indeed strike coins for Ethiopia, 1944 through 1963. 50 cent, 25 cent, 10 cent, 5 cent and 1 cent in various years. Also, the Krause Standard Catalog provides other information. Unfortunately, neither uses the word "gersh" which I do know from pre-modern Ethopian coins. Any help? Thanks!
No, the word is indeed GERSH I have Krause opened in front of me, with the whole 4 and a half pages on Ethiopia. "GERSH" is obviously in Krause (1901 to present, aka 2006, 33rd edition). You must not have looked at an actual catalog before posting. Gersh refers to the "1895a" aka 1903-1928 coin, struck in Paris I am LOOKING at the word RIGHT NOW. In fact, here's a picture from Krause in case anyone also had trouble finding it: The SECOND one "1936", I did make a mistake with, it's not a Gersh it's a Cent, stuck not ONLY in Philly US, but also Birmingham/London, UK between 1944. I thought it was a Gersh due to similarity in size. Mystery solved, appears I have "opined" correctly with one minor exception
One would need to find an Ethiopian to answer that. And I seriously doubt the first one is still in circulation, being that it is silver. Who knows about the copper.
Don't think so. Ethiopia was a monarchy with an emperor back then. Since 1974 it has been a republic (with various political systems). The last gersh coins were minted in the mid-1920s. The 1, 5 and 10 santeem coins with the EE1936 date were, according to the catalog I use, minted in the US (Philadelphia) and the UK (Heaton / King's Norton, Birmingham). As for that "1936", keep in mind that Ethiopia uses its own calendar, or rather a mix of two: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_calendar So EE1936 is 1944 ... Christian
