★ One of the Finest Known ★

Kingdom of Axum, Wazena (Ella Gabaz) Gilt AR Unit. Circa AD 550-570. Crowned and draped bust facing; Ge'ez legend "King Wazena" around, cross above / Cross within arch; Ge'ez legend "the king who exalts the Saviour" around. Hahn & Keck 74.6 (this coin); SACAM 386-7; H 67; AC 117; Vaccaro 62; Roma e69, 567 (hammer: 2,200 GPB). 0.96g, 16mm, 12h.

Extremely Fine; minor obv. scrape, obv. crown and rev. cross inlaid with gold. Very Rare; one of only ten examples cited by Hahn & Keck, and among the finest known.

This coin cited in W.R.O Hahn and R. Keck, Münzgeschichte der AksumitenKönige in der Spätantike, Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte der Universität Wien Vol. 21 (2020);
From the Maekelay-Tigray Collection, reported to have been privately purchased from the Francesco Vaccaro (1903-1990) Collection.