Portuguese Timor's bronze coinage of this period was struck in Lisbon under the Estado Novo regime, which administered the colony with minimal investment and intermittent attention. The territory had been occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945, during which the local economy was effectively destroyed and an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 Timorese died. Coins struck from 1945 onward were entering a population that had been stripped of almost all circulating currency during the occupation.
KM#5 spans a seven-year window but actual distribution to the colony was irregular, and surviving examples in any grade above Fine are less common than the date range implies.
Portuguese Timor's bronze coinage of this period was struck in Lisbon under the Estado Novo regime, which administered the colony with minimal investment and intermittent attention. The territory had been occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945, during which the local economy was effectively destroyed and an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 Timorese died. Coins struck from 1945 onward were entering a population that had been stripped of almost all circulating currency during the occupation.
KM#5 spans a seven-year window but actual distribution to the colony was irregular, and surviving examples in any grade above Fine are less common than the date range implies.