Guinea 20 Centavos

This 20 centavos coin from Portuguese Guinea was struck using bronze planchets at the Lisbon mint, a practical choice amid wartime metal shortages in Europe.

That decision reflected Portugal's effort to unify colonial currencies after the 1910 republican revolution, phasing out older, inconsistent designs. The obverse showed the national coat of arms; the reverse, simply the denomination and year. No fancy allegories here—just straightforward utility for daily transactions in Guinea.

Mintage figures? They're murky; records from that era often vanished in bureaucratic reshuffles. As for rarity, it's not a headline grabber—most turn up in decent condition, though wear from tropical humidity tells its own story.

Plenty of myths circulate about these coins funding expeditions or warding off spirits, but that's nonsense. They were just money.