For earlier currencies issued by East Timor, see Portuguese Timorese escudo

Portuguese Timorese escudo

The escudo was the currency of Portuguese Timor between 1959 and 1976. It replaced the pataca at a rate of 5.6 escudos = 1 pataca and was equivalent to the Portuguese escudo. It was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah following East Timor's occupation by Indonesia. The escudo was subdivided into 100...

 and Portuguese Timorese pataca

Portuguese Timorese pataca

The pataca was a monetary unit of account used in Portuguese Timor between 1894 and 1958, except for the period 1942-1945, when the occupying Japanese forces introduced the Netherlands Indies gulden and the roepiah...

.

East Timor centavo coins were introduced in East Timor

East Timor

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...

 in 2003 for use alongside United States Dollar

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

 banknote

Banknote

A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...

s and coin

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....

s, which had been introduced in 2000 to replace the Indonesian rupiah

Indonesian rupiah

The rupiah is the official currency of Indonesia. Issued and controlled by the Bank of Indonesia, the ISO 4217 currency code for the Indonesian rupiah is IDR. Informally, Indonesians also use the word "perak" in referring to rupiah...

 following the commencement of U.N.

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 administration. One centavo is equal to one US cent. The coins are in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 centavos and feature pictures of local plants and animals. East Timor does not yet issue its own banknotes.

The coins are minted in Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

by the Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, the Portuguese national mint.

East Timor centavo coins
Image		Value	Technical parameters			Description
Reverse	Obverse		Diameter	Composition	Weight	Reverse	Obverse
		1 centavo	17mm	Nickel coated steel	3.1g	Nautilus shell, state title, year of emission	Value, word centavo or centavos, kaibauk representation below value, tais pattern along border
		5 centavos	18.75mm		4.1g	Rice plant, state title, year of emission
		10 centavos	20.75mm		5.2g	Fighting rooster, state title, year of emission
		25 centavos	21.25mm	Nickel-brass alloy	5.85g	Traditional fishing boat (beiro),state title, year of emission
		50 centavos	25mm		6.5g	Coffee beans, state title, year of emission

External links

• Banking and Payments Authority of Timor-Leste http://www.bancocentral.tl/en/main.asp