Gill Plate Coin

CNG 100, Lot: 646. Estimate $1500. Sold for $1600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ETHIOPIA, Ethiopian Empire. Haile Selassie. First reign, 1930-1936. Pattern AV Werk Mule (20mm, 8.17 g, 2h). Addis Ababa mint. Dated EE 1923 (1930). Bust right / Lion of Judah. Gill S6a (this coin). Near EF, struck from worn dies, light scratches, evidence of possible prior mounting. Extremely rare and possibly unique.

From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams, purchased from Dennis Gill, July 1993.

Struck from the obverse die of a copper 5 matonas and the reverse die of a silver pattern 1/8 birr. Gill notes: “[t]his may have been struck with the intention of being a presentation piece, but is likely just a mint sport.”