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1 Centavo Espinho
| Issuer | Associação Comercial e Industrial de Espinho |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Currency | Escudo (1911-2001) |
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| Obverse description | Printed in orange-brown on plain paper, the obverse carries a letterpress vignette with two allegorical figures flanking a central panel bearing the denomination "VALE 1 Cent.": at left, a male figure wearing a winged helmet and holding tools — emblematic of commerce and industry — kneels beside an anchor, while at right a seated female figure with a spade rests upon a wheeled cart. The issuer's name "ASSOCIAÇÃO COMERCIAL E INDUSTRIAL DE ESPINHO" is set in a banner across the top within a decorative ruled border. A small printer's imprint reading "Anthero Leal" appears in the lower right margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ASSOCIAÇÃO COMERCIAL E INDUSTRIAL DE ESPINHO VALE 1 Cent. (Translation: Commercial and Industrial Association of Espinho Worth 1 cent) |
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| Comments |
Espinho's Associação Comercial e Industrial issued these small-denomination cédulas during the acute coin shortage that paralyzed Portuguese retail commerce in the years following World War One. Copper and bronze had been systematically hoarded since the early 1910s, and by 1920 the problem was severe enough that local merchants' associations across Portugal were printing their own fractional notes rather than wait for Lisbon to solve it.
These emergency issues were technically illegal under Portuguese monetary law but were tolerated out of necessity. Espinho, a small coastal town whose economy ran largely on fish canning and seasonal trade, had particular need for low-denomination small change.