20 Escudos

Cape Verde's post-independence coinage began after the islands broke from Portuguese administration in 1975, with the Banco de Cabo Verde established as the issuing authority almost immediately. This series, running from 1977 through 1982, represents the first domestically authorized currency of the newly sovereign archipelago — a period when the ruling PAIGC-derived government was consolidating single-party control under Aristides Pereira.

KM#20 is not rare, but surviving examples in crisp condition are harder to locate than mintage figures suggest, likely due to active circulation across a low-cash island economy with limited banking infrastructure at the time.