Samora Machel, who was the leader of the FRELIMO black independence movement, established a one party Marxist state in Mozambique, and it is his portrait that can be seen on the obverse of all the coins. This set, which is dated 1975, ranks as Mozambique’s first independence coinage.
Samora Machel died in a plane crash in 1986. Years later, Nelson Mandela would marry Machel's widow, Graça, in 1998.
The Royal Mint (UK) prepared the designs, which consist of eight denominations, in late 1974. The proposals for this alternative coinage were discussed in an atmosphere of great secrecy because of the Portuguese situation at the time. The Mint could not produce the full amount agreed in time because of various difficulties, but some hundreds of thousands of coins were minted. It is my understanding that the minting of these coins was contracted out to the Birmingham Mint (England). The designs, however, were created by English artist
Geoffrey Colley, who was under contract to the Royal Mint. Mr Colley also designed the first decimal circulation coin set of Nigeria, as well as the first circulation set of the United Arab Emirates