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MOZAMBIQUE: Republic, 8-coin specimen set, 1975

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - Africa Start Price:260.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 USD
MOZAMBIQUE: Republic, 8-coin specimen set, 1975
SOLD
700.00USD+ (140.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2021 May 14 @ 18:54UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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MOZAMBIQUE: Republic, 8-coin specimen set, 1975, KM-SS1, SET of 8 coins including 2.5 and 1 metica, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 centimo (KM 90-97), featuring Pres. Samora Machal and native florae, all Unc or BU, a very difficult set in its complete form, RR. This is a complete set of Mozambique's first independent coinage. The Portuguese colony had become independent in 1974 following ten years of sporadic warfare and the overthrow of the Estado Novo regime. The British Royal Mint commissioned Geoffrey Colley to design the new coinage, which consisted of eight denominations. It then contracted out its production to the Birmingham Mint. The proposals for this alternative coinage were discussed in an atmosphere of great secrecy because of the Portuguese situation at the time. The Mint could not produce the full amount agreed in time because of various difficulties, but some hundreds of thousands of coins were minted. At some point the coins reached East Germany, where they apparently were held in storage for their Marxist African ally. Whether any of the coins ever reached Mozambique, and if so, whether any were issued and circulated, is a question that remains shrouded in mystery to this day. The old escudo was finally replaced by the metical (= 100 centavos) in 1980. After a dispute with the Royal Mint, the Birmingham Mint was forced to close. It was after that event that pieces from the 1975 Mozambique set started appearing on eBay.