Owner Comments:
Ethiopia - EE1936 (1943-1944) - 10 Cent, Assir Santeem KM #34 - Mintage: 348,998,000 (total from all mints)
These coins were designed by Gilroy Roberts and were struck in eight different years between 1945-1963 by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia and from 1964-1966 in Birmingham and 1974-1975 in London, all with the same Amharic date of EE1936. The Amharic date plus eight results in the A.D. date of 1944. The actual mintages by the Philadelphia Mint are as follows:
1945......25,000,000
1949......16,000,000
1952........5,000,000
1953......25,000,000
1957........6,928,000
1958......33,072,000
1962......20,000,000
1963......30,000,000
---------------------------
Total....161,000,000
Based on the numbers above, it is slightly more likely that this particular coin was actually minted by the Royal Mint of England since there is no way to distinguish coins minted before 1964 from those minted after.
The obverse shows a bust of Haile Selassie I facing left with the date below, and the reverse is a crowned lion facing right with his right foreleg raised holding a ribboned cross with the denomination below. It is a bronze coin (95% copper, 5% zinc) with a reeded edge.
With a cumulative mintage of nearly 349 million, high grade, full red specimens abound, and this is not a rare coin by any means. This grade however is pretty good with only one graded higher by NGC. It is a nice example of this interesting historic coin, and I am pleased to add it to my collection.
Date acquired: 12/14/2014 (Already graded by NGC)
Rev. 5/13/2016