Portuguese real
Encyclopedia
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
from around 1430 until 1911. It replaced the dinheiro
Portuguese dinheiro
The dinheiro was the currency of Portugal from around the late 12th century until approximately 1502. For accounting purposes, twelve dinheiros equalled one soldo and twenty soldos equal one libra....
at the rate of 1 real = 840 dinheiros and was itself replaced by the escudo
Portuguese escudo
The escudo was the currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the Euro on 1 January 1999 and its removal from circulation on 28 February 2002. The escudo was subdivided into 100 centavos....
(as a result of the Republican revolution
5 October 1910 revolution
The revolution of 1910 was a republican coup d'état that occurred in Portugal on 5 October 1910, which deposed King Manuel II and established the Portuguese First Republic....
of 1910) at a rate of 1 escudo = 1000 réis. The escudo was further replaced by the euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
at a rate of 1 euro = 200.482 escudos in 1998.
History
The first real was introduced by Ferdinand IFerdinand I of Portugal
Ferdinand I , sometimes referred to as the Handsome or rarely as the Inconstant , was the ninth King of Portugal and the Algarve, the second son of Peter I and his wife, Constance of Castile...
in around 1380.http://moedamania.no.sapo.pt/catalogo.htm It was a silver coin and had a value of 120 dinheiros
Portuguese dinheiro
The dinheiro was the currency of Portugal from around the late 12th century until approximately 1502. For accounting purposes, twelve dinheiros equalled one soldo and twenty soldos equal one libra....
(10 soldos or ½ libra). In the reign of King João I
John I of Portugal
John I KG , called the Good or of Happy Memory, more rarely and outside Portugal the Bastard, was the tenth King of Portugal and the Algarve and the first to use the title Lord of Ceuta...
(1385–1433), the real branco of 3½ libras and the real preto of 7 soldos (one tenth of a real branco) were issued. By the beginning of the reign of King Duarte I in 1433, the real branco (equivalent to 840 dinheiros) had become the unit of account in Portugal. From the reign of Manuel I
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...
(1495–1521), the name was simplified to "real", coinciding with the switch to minting real coins from copper.
In 1837, a decimal system was adopted for the coin denominations, with the first banknotes issued by the Banco de Portugal
Banco de Portugal
The Banco de Portugal is the central bank of the Republic of Portugal. Established by a royal charter of 19 November 1846 to act as a commercial bank and issuing bank, it came about as the result of a merger of the Banco de Lisboa and the Companhia de Confiança Nacional, an investment company...
in 1847. In 1854, Portugal went on to a gold standard
Gold standard
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
of 1000 réis = 1.62585 grams fine gold. This standard was maintained until 1891.
Large sums were usually expressed as "mil-réis" (sometimes "milréis") or 1,000 réis, a term often found in 19th century Portuguese literature. In figures a mil-réis was written as 1$000, so that 60,000 réis would be written as 60$000 or 60 mil-réis.)
In 1911, the escudo replaced the real. One million réis (or one thousand mil-réis) was known as a conto de réis. This term survived the introduction of the escudo to mean 1000 escudos and is now used to mean five euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s, almost exactly the converted value of 1000 escudos or one million réis (precisely 1 conto = 4.98797897€).
Coins and banknotes were also issued denominated in réis for use in the different parts of the Portuguese empire
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
. See: Angolan real
Angolan real
The real was the currency of Angola until 1914. It was equal to the Portuguese real. No subdivisions existed, but some coins were issued denominated in macutas, worth 50 réis...
, Azorean real
Azorean real
The real was the currency of the Azores until 1911. It was equal to the Portuguese real. Coins were issued specifically for the Azores until 1901 and notes were issued between 1895 and 1910...
, Brazilian real
Brazilian real
The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....
, Cape Verde real, Mozambican real
Mozambican real
The real was the currency of Mozambique until 1914. It was equivalent to and circulated alongside the Portuguese real.-History:Coins specific for Mozambique were issued until 1853, whilst the first banknotes appeared in 1877...
, Portuguese Guinea real and São Tomé and Príncipe real
São Tomé and Príncipe real
The real was the currency of São Tomé and Príncipe until 1914. It was equivalent to the Portuguese real. Coins were issued specifically for São Tomé and Príncipe until 1825 and banknotes were issued for the colony beginning in 1897...
. Brazil has revived the real as the denomination of its present currency.
Coins
Before the middle of the 19th century, many different denominations were minted, often with values in terms of the real which increased over time. For example, the cruzado was introduced at a value of 324 real branco in the reign of João IIJohn II of Portugal
John II , the Perfect Prince , was the thirteenth king of Portugal and the Algarves...
. It was fixed at a value of 400 réis during João III's
John III of Portugal
John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...
reign and this remained the value of the silver cruzado until the reign of Pedro II, when it was revalued to 480 réis. Meanwhile, the gold cruzado rose in value to 750 réis in the reign of João IV
John IV of Portugal
|-|John IV was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1640 to his death. He was the grandson of Catherine, Duchess of Braganza, who had in 1580 claimed the Portuguese crown and sparked the struggle for the throne of Portugal. John was nicknamed John the Restorer...
, then to 875 réis in the reign of Afonso V before its demise. Two denominations which did not change their values were the vintém of 20 réis and the tostão of 100 réis.
The last 1 real coins (excluding colonial issues) were minted in the 1580s. After this time, the smallest coins were worth 1½ réis. These were minted until around 1750, after which the three réis coin became the smallest circulating denomination. From the early 18th century, the standard gold coin was the peça, valued at 6400 réis (7500 réis after 1826).
In the late 18th century and early 19th century, copper coins were issued in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 20 and 40 réis, with silver 50, 60, 100, 120, 240 and 480 réis and gold 480, 800, 1200, 1600, 3200 and 6400 réis. Some of these coins showed denominations which were no longer accurate due to earlier revaluations. These included the 240 and 480 réis which were inscribed 200 and 400.
In 1837, a decimal system was adopted, with copper coins (bronze from 1882) of 3, 5, 10 and 20 réis, silver coins for 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 réis and gold 1000, 2000, 2500, 5000 and 10,000 réis. In 1875, the last 3 réis coins were issued, with cupro-nickel 50 and 100 réis issued in 1900.
Banknotes
Portugal's first paper money was introduced in 1797 by the government. Denominations issued until 1807 included 1200, 2400, 5000, 6400, 10,000, 12,000 and 20,000 réis. Some of these notes were revalidated for continued use during the War of the Two BrothersLiberal Wars
The Liberal Wars, also known as the Portuguese Civil War, the War of the Two Brothers, or Miguelite War, was a war between progressive constitutionalists and authoritarian absolutists in Portugal over royal succession that lasted from 1828 to 1834...
.
From the 1820s, several private banks issued paper money. The most extensive issues were by the Banco de Lisboa, whose notes were denominated in both réis and moedas, worth 4800 réis. This bank issued notes for 1200 and 2400 réis, 1, 4, 10, 20, 50 and 100 moedas. The Banco Commercial de Braga, Banco Commercial do Porto, Banco de Guimaraes and Banco Industrial do Porto also issued notes, with bearer cheques issued by a number of other banks between 1833 and 1887.
In 1847, the Banco de Portugal
Banco de Portugal
The Banco de Portugal is the central bank of the Republic of Portugal. Established by a royal charter of 19 November 1846 to act as a commercial bank and issuing bank, it came about as the result of a merger of the Banco de Lisboa and the Companhia de Confiança Nacional, an investment company...
introduced notes for 10,000 and 20,000 réis. 5000 réis notes were issued from 1883, followed by 50,000 réis in 1886. In 1891, the Casa de Moeda introduced notes for 50 and 100 réis, and the Banco de Portugal introduced notes for 200, 500, 1000 and 2500 réis, followed by 100,000 réis notes in 1894.
External links
- The Coins of Portugal Photos and descriptions of the coins of Portugal from the Kingdom to the euro.