Error In Krause: Ethiopian Coppers

While Krause errors have been noted in numerous threads over the years, I don't think this particular one has been noticed before. The error was spotted in my 2006 edition, and it's still there on NumisMaster right now. You sure couldn't spot it unless you were looking really, really hard. Or you knew the Ethiopian language.

Ethiopian imperial coppers can be a cause of frustration; the 1 cent, 5 cents, 10 cents and 25 cents all have the same, basic form; they're all copper, all have the emperor on the obverse, Lion of Judah on the reverse and the squiggly Amharic script on both sides. It is, in fact, the script, and the diameter, that are the only distinguishing features between these four denominations.

Now, take a close look at the pics in Krause of Ethiopia KM# 32 (1 cent) and KM# 33 (5 cents). Note especially the text beneath the lion. They letters are identical - and they shouldn't be. The reverse text is actually the denomination, written out in full in Amharic, and it should say exactly what Krause says each denomination should say: "ande santeem" for the 1¢, "amist santeem" for the 5¢. Check the other denominations and they're all different, except these two.

So, where exactly is the error, then? Have a look at the 25 cents - it's supposed to say "haya amist santeem" - in other words, exactly the same as the 5 cents, except for an additional word at the beginning. Yet the text under the pic for the 5¢ looks nothing at all like the text under the 25¢. One can therefore conclude that it's the pic for the 5¢ that is wrong.

So, what does a KM# 33 actually look like? I presume it looks like this coin I just purchased from a small lot of Ethiopian coins, and couldn't find elsewhere in Krause:



The size of the pic for the 5 cents is slightly out, too, as one might expect if they're simply imaged a second 1 cent coin and resized it. This coin is 20mm, while the pic in Krause is only 19mm. Not much difference, true, but still noticeable to the eye when you place the coin on the page to try to compare sizes - and no doubt a source of confusion to anyone with one of these coins and trying to identify it.