50 Centavos

Cape Verde's first coinage as an independent republic — issued following the 1975 declaration of independence from Portugal — was produced under the banner of the PAIGC's successor state while the country was still establishing its basic institutions. The Banco de Cabo Verde itself had only been founded in 1975, making these early aluminum pieces among the first sovereign monetary instruments the islands had ever issued under their own authority. Aluminum was a practical choice for a nation with almost no hard currency reserves in its opening years.