Aksum Issues Its First Coinage under King Endubis
- Date
- c. 270 CE
- Category
- Economy & trade
- Region
- Kingdom of Aksum (modern Ethiopia and Eritrea)
- Era
- Classical Antiquity
- Significance
Around 270 CE, King Endubis of the Kingdom of Aksum, centred in present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea, began striking the first indigenous coinage of any sub-Saharan African state.
The coins were minted in gold, silver, and bronze, with the gold pieces (averaging roughly 2.5-2.8 grams) modelled on the weight standard of the Roman aureus to facilitate participation in international Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade. Inscriptions were rendered in Koine Greek, the language of long-distance commerce, and the coins typically bore the king's profile bust flanked by stalks of barley or wheat and celestial symbols representing the sun and moon. By placing a controlled state currency in circulation, Endubis advertised Aksumite sovereignty and wealth across the trading world, a practice his successors such as Aphilas continued and later adapted with Ge'ez legends and Christian iconography. According to historian Stuart Munro-Hay, no other sub-Saharan African state issued its own independent coinage in ancient times, underscoring the singularity of this achievement.
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Empires active in c. 270 CE
- Kingdom of Funan50 CE – 550 CE
- Roman Empire27 BCE – 476 CE
- Sassanid Empire224 CE – 651 CE
- Teotihuacan100 BCE – 750 CE
- Kushan Empire30 CE – 375 CE
- Zapotec State of Monte Albán500 BCE – 800 CE
Related economy & trade events
- Crisis of the Third Century and the Collapse of the Roman Denarius235–285 AD
- Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices301 CE
- Sogdian Merchant Network and Sogdian as the Silk Road Lingua Francac. 400 CE (peak 4th–8th centuries)
- Monsoon-Driven Indo-Roman Sea Trade Boom (Periplus Era)c. 50 CE (Periplus era, monsoon route established c. 45-47 CE)
- Monsoon-wind navigation opens direct Indo-Roman Indian Ocean tradec. 30 BCE (1st century BCE)
- Salt and Iron Debate at the Han Court81 BCE
Further reading
The wider story
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Best-selling world history told through the trade routes that moved goods, faiths and ideas.
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