Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
2 Centavos Matosinhos
| Issuer | Câmara Municipal de Matosinhos |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 100 × 60 mm |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in dark grey on cream paper, the reverse presents a central oval vignette of the Matosinhos fortress, a coastal fortification with a tower and cross visible atop a rocky promontory, rendered in detailed line engraving. The denomination numeral '2' appears at all four corners within a continuously patterned guilloche border of interlocking arcs. The overall design is stark and unadorned, with the architectural vignette occupying the majority of the face. |
| Reverse lettering | 2 CENT. 2 CENT. |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Câmara Municipal de Matosinhos issued small-denomination emergency paper during Portugal's acute coin shortage of 1917–1920, when the First World War disrupted metal supplies and centavo coins effectively vanished from everyday commerce. Hundreds of Portuguese municipalities, parishes, and commercial associations resorted to printing their own cédulas — local emergency scrip — to fill the gap left by Lisbon's inability to supply fractional coinage in sufficient quantity.
Matosinhos, a fishing port north of Porto, was among the smaller municipalities to issue. The 2 centavo value is the most modest denomination in the series, which tells you something about just how completely small change had dried up.