A Collection Of Coins From Portugal

I will enjoy the ride. I really like the design of Portuguese coins with that iconic ship from the Age of Discovery.

Thanks tdzieama, I hope I can live up to the hype. I don't have that many, I do have a few of the moderns, after I am done, I may post those if people are interested.

Albert, I only have 2 Reis currently in my collection, I have 2 of 2$50 Escudos, one is AU, the other has more wear. I do have a collection of Portuguese Paper Money, including some fractional.




Some of the older series.







And some of the newer series.







And the series right before going to the Euro.

I'm a fan of Portuguese coins too.
In fact the first set I ever completed was the 1927 to 1968 50 centavos.



Steve :)

Continuing with coins from Portugal. First off a little history.

In 1910 the former monarchy of Portugal was overthrown by the violent death of the King and his oldest son the first in line to the kingdom. The queen fearful for the death of her younger son abdicated and a new government was installed "Primeira República Portuguesa" or the First Republic.

Like the first few years of most new governments, there were growing pains. The old currency was demonetized (the real) and a new one was established (the Escudo) at a rate of 1000 Reis to a Escudo. The escudo is made up of 100 centavos which was generally issued in PM.

But due to WWI and a lack of PM, coins were being produced in Copper/bronze and other secondary metals which were also in short supply.

The populace with no change started using the old Reals. The government fearful of an angry populace released 4 issues of fractional currency. And for a time it alleviated the shortage until a certain counterfeiter both caused an economic revival and through his actions the end of the First Republic and a 41 year dictatorship. You can read more about that here:

https://www.pmgnotes.com/news/artic...sis-of-1925/

It is April 11, 1925 we are now at the start of the collapse of the economy of Portugal due to all the counterfeit P-130 500 escudos. The government is on the verge of collapse and the populace still doesn't have any coins as all PM is in low supply. The government is still issuing currency. All of these issues resulted in a coup D'etat on May 28, 1926. The Military government begged an Economist from the University of Coimbra to come in and take charge of the economy. Within 1 year Salazar took over the finances of Portugal and stabilized the budget and the economy. Eventually becoming Prime Minister and a dictator from 1933 to 1964.

The coin today celebrates the The 25 de Abril Bridge is a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, to the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tagus river. It was inaugurated on August 6, 1966. It is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, because they are both suspension bridges of similar color. It was built by the American Bridge Company which constructed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge but not the Golden Gate. With a total length of 2,277 metres (7,470 ft), it is the 43rd longest suspension bridge in the world.

The upper deck carries six car lanes while the lower deck carries a double track railway, electrified at 25 kV AC. The lower deck was added in 1999.

From 1966-1974, the bridge was named Salazar Bridge (Ponte Salazar) in honor of Portuguese Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar who ordered its construction. Twenty workers died during its construction. After the Carnation Revolution, which overthrew the remnants of Salazar's dictatorship, the bridge was renamed for April 25, the date of the revolution.

The coin:




Issuer: Portugal
Period: Second Republic (1926-1974)
Type: Circulating commemorative coin
Year: 1966
Value: 20 Escudos (20 PTE)
Currency: Escudo (1911-2001)
Composition: Silver (.650)
Weight: 10 g
Diameter: 30 mm
Thickness: 1.8 mm
Shape: Round
Orientation: Coin alignment #8593;#8595;
Demonetized: Yes
References: KM# 592
Mintage: 2,000,000

@triggersmob, beautiful 50 centavos. I need to get a nice one like yours, most of mine were pulled from circulation.

Today's coin is a 1960 5 escudos commemorative, celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Death of Prince Henry the Navigator. These were also released in 10 and 20 escudos, I don't have those yet but they are on my list.




Issuer: Portugal
Period: Second Republic (1926-1974)
Type: Circulating commemorative coin
Year :1960
Value :5 Escudos (5 PTE)
Currency: Escudo (1911-2001)
Composition: Silver (.650)
Weight: 7 g
Diameter: 25 mm
Thickness: 1.9 mm
Shape: Round
Orientation: Coin alignment #8593;#8595;
Demonetized: Yes
References: KM# 587
Mintage: 800,000

Thanks, I hope so soon (I should have a little cash in 2-3 weeks). I did pick up some safflips as I had run out. I updated all the not common coins from Portugal so they have the same information.

@commens,

Thanks for the link! Its funny but I actually have 2 of the 20 Escudos coin. I had picked up one a few years ago when I found it at a local coin shop and just 6 weeks ago, I saw it at another coin shop in San Diego while on vacation and picked it up. Can't let good Portuguese coins go to waste.