Trial pieces from Casa da Moeda in this period were produced for internal evaluation as Portugal weighed coinage reforms under the Estado Novo regime. The 1968 date places this squarely in the final year of Salazar's effective rule — he suffered an incapacitating stroke in September of that year and was replaced by Marcelo Caetano. Whether that political disruption affected the outcome of any concurrent coinage decisions is unrecorded, but the 5 Escudos denomination in copper-nickel did proceed to regular issue.
Trial pieces from Casa da Moeda in this period were produced for internal evaluation as Portugal weighed coinage reforms under the Estado Novo regime. The 1968 date places this squarely in the final year of Salazar's effective rule — he suffered an incapacitating stroke in September of that year and was replaced by Marcelo Caetano. Whether that political disruption affected the outcome of any concurrent coinage decisions is unrecorded, but the 5 Escudos denomination in copper-nickel did proceed to regular issue.