Ethiopia 1-CENT (KM43.1)¶
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Reverse OXEN pulling cart
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Obverse LION
- Composition
- Aluminum
- Country
- Ethiopia
- Approx. Size
- 17.5mm
- Area
- Africa
- Animal Class
- Mammals
- Species
- Oxen / Lion
- KM#
- 43
The first decimal coinage of the "Peoples Democratic Republic" was issued in EE1969 (1977). The obverse features the most ferocious lion to appear on coinage. The reverse shows a pair of "oxen" pulling a cart. An Ox is simply a mature cow that has been trained to pull wagons and farm implements.
Ethiopia¶
- Area
- Africa
Ethiopia is on the east side of Africa, where its 1,000,000+ sq.km takes up most of the land area of the horn. The population consists of approximately 56 million people in 40 tribes who speak around 270 languages and dialects. Most amazingly, the country was supposedly ruled by the same dynasty until 1974 -- a dynasty that according to popular legend began with the son of King Solomon of Israel! As such, Ethiopia has one of the longest histories in the world as an independent country. (And as such, it is hard to do it justice in a few words here!) By the third century, the area -- known since the fifth century BCE as the Kingdom of Aksum -- was listed as one of the four great powers of the time. (The other three were Rome, Persia, and China.) Ethiopia is the homeland of the Rastafari movement, whose spread through the world has been helped by the popularity of reggae music. In 2005, the Obelisk of Axum, a 1,700 year old 100 tonne relic was finally returned to the country after spending 70 years in Rome after being looted by Mussolini in 1937.
