ETHIOPIA CENT / Santeem 1944 BU

This small brass coin in Brilliant Uncirculated condition was issued in Ethiopia during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie and bears his image on one side and the Lion of Judah on the other. It is dated 1936 in the Ethiopian Ge’ez calendar, which is 1944 in the Gregorian calendar. Despite this, not all were minted that year as there were subsequent issues in 1967 and 1973, but with the same date. Haile Selassie himself was deposed in 1974 and is believed to have been murdered in prison the following year. In the Rastafari movement, he is regarded the returned messiah of the Bible.