INCM results from the merger, in 1972, of Imprensa Nacional and Casa da Moeda, two of the oldest industrial establishments in the country.

Currently, technological innovation, developed in partnership with some of the main universities and national research centres, is one of the INCM's strategic axes, whose mission is create, produce and supply goods and services that require high safety standards, focusing on the customer and on innovative solutions.

Among these essential goods and services are the production of security documents, such as the citizen card or passport, the authentication of precious metals, the publication of the Diário da República, the minting of coins and collector coins and the publication of fundamental works of the Portuguese language and culture.