20 Escudos Prince Henry the Navigator

This coin was issued as part of Portugal's commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry, who died in 1460. The Salazar regime made considerable use of such historical figures — Henry in particular — as instruments of nationalist mythology, framing Portugal's Age of Discovery as both civilizing mission and proof of imperial destiny at a moment when that empire was already beginning to fracture under anticolonial pressure in Africa and Asia.

The .800 silver composition was a deliberate step down from earlier Portuguese silver coinage, reflecting chronic postwar pressure on the country's silver reserves.