Before I started to spend all my extra monies on camera and dive equipment I started a collection of Ethiopian Coptic crosses and other memorabilia. This is a 'war medal' that I have, though I'm afraid I don't know much of its history. I believe it is Emperor Haile Selassie I, and was issued after the second Italo-Abyssinian war (1935-6). This conflict saw fascist Italian troops use mustard gas and flamethrowers against opponents armed with spears. Any Amharic speakers out there, feel free to provide a translation. An alternate genesis (from the double-sidedness and solder at the top) is that it's a coin that was made to look like a medal. Either way, I enjoy it.
Definitely a unique coin! I found some similar images poking around the internet, but nothing that would really identify it. To me, it appears to be a coin that someone adapted to wear as a necklace, rather than a medal. No real idea what it is, though!
Mike Broderick
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Constructive critiques of my pictures, and reposts in this forum for purposes of critique are welcome
"I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul....My mandate includes weird bugs."
--Calvin
PS. These image files are longer than the posting guidelines allow. Should be 200 KB or less; these are almost twice that big. Just set that quality slider a bit lower when you save the jpeg.
Thanks guys, sorry about the size! I'll keep an eye on that from now on.
I don't know how we ever figured things out before Google Images search... you can pretty much surf your way through a Biology undergraduate these days