1000 Réis

The Companhia do Niassa was one of several chartered companies granted quasi-governmental authority over portions of Portuguese East Africa in the 1890s, modeled loosely on the British South Africa Company. Its territory in the far north of Mozambique was remote, sparsely administered, and perpetually underfunded. This 1894 coinage — authorized under the company's charter to facilitate trade and wage payments within its concession — saw limited practical use, as the local economy ran largely on older colonial specie and barter.

Gomes CN 04.01 is the foundational type of the series, struck at a moment when the company's commercial ambitions far outpaced its actual operations on the ground.