10 Escudos 1940 Portugal

This 10 Escudos coin from 1940 was one of the few Portuguese issues that directly referenced the Estado Novo regime on its obverse, featuring Salazar's profile alongside the national arms. That design choice made it a subtle propaganda piece, unusual for a nation more accustomed to neutral motifs. Struck in Lisbon, it used a standard silver alloy, though exact composition details remain murky due to wartime records.

The coin commemorated the seventh anniversary of the Estado Novo, established in 1933. While mintage figures are often cited as around 200,000, those numbers come from unreliable secondary sources; the official archives were likely destroyed in a 1974 fire during the Carnation Revolution. So, take any figure with a grain of salt.

What surprises me is how these coins turn up in odd places, like a dealer's tray next to ancient Roman denarii. As if history itself got mixed up in the drawer.