Coinage of Angola since independence

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Angola's location in Africa.

Map of Angola.

From Wikipedia:

The Republic of Angola is the seventh-largest country in Africa. The capital and largest city is Luanda. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The nation state of Angola originated from Portuguese colonisation, which initially began with coastal settlements and trading posts founded in the 16th century. In the 19th century, European settlers gradually began to establish themselves in the interior.

After a protracted anti-colonial struggle, independence was achieved in 1975 as the Marxist–Leninist People's Republic of Angola, a one-party state supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba. The civil war between the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the insurgent anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), supported by the United States and apartheid South Africa, lasted until 2002. The sovereign state has since become a relatively stable unitary, presidential constitutional republic.

Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world, especially since the end of the civil war. However, the standard of living remains low for most of the population, and life expectancy in Angola is among the lowest in the world. A highly multi-ethnic country, Angola's 25.8 million people span tribal groups, customs, and traditions. Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese rule, in the predominance of the Portuguese language and of the Catholic Church.

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Angola's coat of arms.

From Wikipedia:

The emblem of Angola reflects the recent past of the new nation. It includes heavily Marxist imagery.

In the center is a machete and hoe, representing the revolution through which the nation gained independence and the importance of agricultural workers. Above both emblems is a star, a common symbol in communist emblems. The star is taken to represent progress. The rising sun is the traditional symbol of a new beginning. These emblems are all enclosed within a circle whose right half is formed by a cog-wheel, representing the industrial workers, and whose left half is a half-wreath of maize, coffee and cotton leaves, representing agriculture. At the bottom is an open book that represents education.

The banner at the bottom reads 'República de Angola', Portuguese for "Republic of Angola". This was changed from 'República Popular de Angola' ("People's Republic of Angola") in 1990; at the same time the cog-wheel was also changed from gold to silver.

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Angola's flag.

From Wikipedia:

The national flag of Angola came into use when Angola gained independence on November 11, 1975. It is split horizontally into an upper red half and a lower black half with an emblem resting at the center. It features a yellow half gear wheel crossed by a machete and crowned with a star.

The red half of the flag signifies bloodshed – during Angola's colonial period, independence struggle, and in defense of the country. The black half symbolizes Africa. In the central emblem, the gear represents industrial workers and production; the machete represents peasantry, agricultural production and the armed struggle; and the star symbolizes international solidarity and progress. The yellow color of the emblem symbolizes the country's wealth.

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Angola, obverse, 1956.

Before the introduction of the new Angolan coinage in 1977, Angola used the old colonial coinage provided for it by Portugal.

In 1935 the Portuguese colonies were officially assigned coats of arms that followed a standard design pattern. For Angola, this consisted of a shield with the Portuguese arms at the top left and a golden elephant and a golden zebra on a purpure field at the top right. The wavy bars in the base represented Angola's location overseas from metropolitan Portugal. This coat of arms was seen on the colonial coins of Angola.

See also: Portuguese Empire: Coats of Arms of the 20th Century.

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Angola, 50 lwei, 1975.

From Wikipedia:

The kwanza was first introduced on January 8, 1977, following Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975. The currency derives its name from the Kwanza River. It replaced the Angolan escudo at par and was subdivided into 100 lwei. The first kwanza was used until September 24, 1990.

The first issue of coins was introduced in 1977. All these coins bore a legend on the obverse reading "11 DE NOVEMBRO DE 1975" (November 11, 1975), which was the date of Angola's independence, and the Angolan coat of arms. The coins were composed of cupronickel, and came in denominations of 50 lwei, 1, and 10 kwanza.

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Angola, 50 lwei, 1975.

The reverse of the 50 lwei. This is the only denomination that ever bore the subunit name of 'lwei'.

Compared to the common obverse design, the designs on the reverse of the coins were all very plain.

Perhaps for this reason a bead circle was placed on the reverse of every coin but not on the obverse.

See also: Beads and dentillations on coins.

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Angola, 1 kwanza, 1977.

The reverse of the 1 kwanza coin of 1977.

The images here are not shown to scale.

The coins are not shown with the correct sizes relative to each other.

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Angola, 2 kwanzas, 1977.

The reverse of the 2 kwanzas coin of 1977.

The word 'KWANZAS' was placed differently.

This added some variety to the rather plain reverse designs.

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Angola, 5 kwanzas, 1977.

The reverse of the 5 kwanzas coin of 1977.

Here too the word 'KWANZAS' was placed differently.

It appeared lower down than on the reverse of the 2 kwanzas coin.

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Angola,10 kwanzas, 1977.

The reverse of the 10 kwanzas coin of 1977.

Here the word 'KWANZAS' appeared at the bottom of the coin.

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Angola, 20 kwanzas, 1977.

The 20 kwanzas coin of this series was issued in 1978 only.

This coin showed the year on the reverse.

All the coins issued in 1978 and 1979 in this series did so.

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Angola, 10 kwanzas, 1978.

Here you see the reverse of a 10 kwanzas coin of 1978.

This time the year is featured.

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Angola, 50 lwei, 1979.

The reverse of a 50 lwei coin of 1979, with the year included.

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Angola, 1 kwanzas, 1979.

And here is the reverse of a 1 kwanza coin of 1979, with the year included.

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The coins of the first kwanza series.

Certain references and web sites claim that a copper 50 kwanzas was issued in 1978 and / or 1979.

However, the coins that they show do not include a year on the reverse.

I believe that these references wrongly show the 50 kwanzas of 1991.


As we have seen, all the coins issued in 1978 and 1979 included the year on the reverse.

The 50 and 100 kwanzas coins issued in the new coin series of 1991 did not.