I pulled a pair of uncirculated 1933 Portuguese Guinea 5-centavo pieces—this is one—from the bottom of a big junk-box and bought them by weight. Cost for the pair, then, was slightly less than a dime. Not bad for a couple of coins that together catalog for $180. But I wonder…
There were just 100K struck, but these were the last-ever 5-centavo coins (homeland
or colonial) produced by Portugal. So it seems possible that their active careers weren’t long at all.
Makes me think that maybe there are more of these little coins around than might otherwise be the case—and that they’re in better condition, too.
v.