20 Centavos

By 1973, Portuguese Guinea was deep into the eleven-year colonial war against the PAIGC, and Lisbon was spending roughly 40% of its national budget on African military operations across three simultaneous conflicts. That Portugal was still striking colonial coinage for Guinea that year is a minor administrative absurdity — the PAIGC had already declared independence for the Republic of Guinea-Bissau in September 1973, a declaration recognized by over 80 UN member states before Portugal itself acknowledged the reality following the Carnation Revolution of April 1974.