Limited Sovereignty: Colonial Currencies and Maria Theresa Thaler in Eritrea and Ethiopia (1885–1941)

This article examines the role and resilience of the Maria Theresa thaler in Eritrea and Ethiopia from the late 19th to mid-20th century, highlighting its coexistence and conflict with various forms of colonial currency issued by the Italian state. Through extensive archival research, the paper reveals how local populations consistently rejected Italian monetary innovations—including the failed Italian thaler of 1890 and the AOI Lira of 1938—in favor of the Austrian silver coin. The analysis demonstrates that Italian colonial authorities fundamentally misunderstood the multifunctional nature of the thaler, which served not only as a medium of exchange but also as raw material for jewelry production, dowry accumulation, and status symbols. The paper argues that rather than representing primitive monetary practices, local preferences reflected rational economic choices based on the thaler's flexibility and intrinsic value. By examining military correspondence, administrative reports, and policy documents, this research illustrates the clash between European chartalist monetary concepts—emphasising state sovereignty and uniform currency—and African horizontal, situational monetary practices. The study concludes that the colonial monetary system constituted multiple parallel circuits rather than a unified system, resembling Ancient Régime European practices more than modern monetary frameworks. Drawing on theoretical insights from chartalist and anthropological perspectives, the article challenges the notion of monetary modernity as a unilinear process and reinterprets colonial currency regimes as contested and pluralistic.