Following on from Germany’s ‘see through’ €5 coin embellished with a ring of plastic, and Britain’s new £5 coin to commemorate the Queen’s 90th birthday, Portugal will be releasing its own contribution tomorrow (Tuesday April 26) with the “objective of celebrating Portuguese modernism”.
The new €5 coin will only be legal tender in Portuguese territory – exactly as is the case with Germany’s coin – though it may not be quite as modern.
Germany’s €5 piece has been designed to make it “much harder to counterfeit”. The blue plastic ring “is easy to recognize, meaning that a check for authenticity is possible with the naked eye, while the plastic itself is complex to produce”.
Unveiled in Munich earlier this month, it was hailed by the director of the States Mint of Baden-Württemberg as “the innovation of the era”.
Thus why particularly the Bank of Portugal dubs its own much more prosaic coin a celebration of modernism is not clear.
The piece – designed with collectors in mind – has the Portuguese crest set against the European star in the background on one side, with a copy of the famous self-portrait by artist Almada Negreiros on the other, along with the words: O modernismo português.
One hundred thousand coins have been minted and can be purchased from the Bank of Portugal on completion of a form, explains Revista port.com.
