Ancient, British and World Coins and Banknotes

Construction of the Addis Ababa to Djibouti Railway, 1906, bronze medals (3), by J.-C. Chaplain, bust of Menelik II right, rev. locomotive to left, all 32mm (Moyaux 575; cf. Swan 397-8) [3]. Very fine and better; all with rings for suspension (£80-100)

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Railway Medals.

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Menelik II had built his new capital city, Addis Ababa [New Flower], and needed a railway to connect it to the trade routes of the Red Sea. The Chemin de Fer Franco-Ethiopien commenced building the railway in 1896. It ran for 485 miles through Dera Awa, rising in elevation over 8,000 feet, and was finally completed in 1917