Mozambique – Colonial Coins

The coins of Mozambique form one of the most extensive and diverse numismatic collections of the former Portuguese overseas territories, reflecting more than four centuries of administrative and commercial presence in southeastern Africa. From the sixteenth century onwards, with the establishment of trading posts and the integration of the region into the Indian Ocean routes of the Portuguese Estado da Índia, circulation relied on Portuguese coinage and foreign currency used in regional trade. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Mozambique received several specific issues that followed the monetary reforms of the empire and the economic needs of the territory. In the Republican period, Mozambique began issuing its own coins, struck at the Lisbon Mint in bronze, cupronickel, silver and, in some commemorative issues, gold, forming one of the most complete and technically refined colonial numismatic corpora. These issues continued until the years preceding independence in 1975. Coins issued after independence can be found under World Coins, in the section Africa – Mozambique.