This 1934 piece is a pattern issue — never approved for circulation — produced as Portugal considered a reformed coinage for its Indian territories. The nickel-brass composition was part of broader interwar experimentation with base-metal alloys across Portuguese colonial mints, driven largely by cost reduction pressures following the global economic contraction of the early 1930s. The "Republic" designation distinguishes it from the later Estado Novo colonial issues that followed Salazar's consolidation of power.
The Gomes reference R E2.01 places this as the first recorded die trial of the type.
This 1934 piece is a pattern issue — never approved for circulation — produced as Portugal considered a reformed coinage for its Indian territories. The nickel-brass composition was part of broader interwar experimentation with base-metal alloys across Portuguese colonial mints, driven largely by cost reduction pressures following the global economic contraction of the early 1930s. The "Republic" designation distinguishes it from the later Estado Novo colonial issues that followed Salazar's consolidation of power.
The Gomes reference R E2.01 places this as the first recorded die trial of the type.