100 Escudos 1980 Portugal

The 1980 100 Escudos from Portugal was an early experiment in bimetallic construction, pairing a copper-nickel ring with a brass center to deter counterfeiting and cut production costs.

This design reflected Portugal's push toward economic modernization in the late 1970s, following the Carnation Revolution. The obverse bore the national coat of arms, a simple shield with five shields inside, while the reverse featured the denomination and year. Mintage figures? They're murky; official records from that era are incomplete, possibly lost in bureaucratic shifts.

I've handled dozens of these over the years. They're sturdy, if unremarkable, holding up better than some paper notes from the same period. As for myths about hidden values, forget it—it's just a practical coin from a transitional time.