Owner Comments:
Ethiopia - EE1936 (1943-1944) - 5 Cent, Amist Santeem KM #33 - Mintage: 219,000,000 (total from all mints)
These coins were designed by Gilroy Roberts and were struck in nine different years between 1944-1962 by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia and from 1964-1966 in Birmingham, 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:
1944........3,162,000
1945......12,838,000
1946......10,000,000
1947......12,000,000
1949......16,000,000
1952........5,112,000
1953......34,888,000
1958......10,000,000
1962........5,000,000
---------------------------
Total....109,000,000 from Philadelphia
Based on the numbers above, it is just ever so 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 roughly 219 million, high grade, full red specimens abound, and this is not a rare coin by any means. This grade however is pretty good with none graded higher by NGC or PCGS. It is a nice example of this interesting historic coin, and I am pleased to add it to my collection.
Date acquired: 8/7/2015 (Already graded by NGC)
Rev. 5/13/2016