500 Kwanzas Creation of the National Currency

Angola's kwanza had been introduced in 1977 as a replacement for the escudo following independence, but by the late 1980s the currency had deteriorated badly under the pressures of civil war and a collapsed oil-dependent economy. This 1991 commemorative was issued just as the Bicesse Accords were being negotiated — the short-lived peace agreement signed in May of that year between the MPLA government and UNITA rebels.

The .720 fineness places it in a mid-grade silver category common to commemorative programs of developing nations working through state mints on limited budgets, often struck at the Kremlin Mint or European contract facilities rather than domestically.