The ''real'' (, meaning "royal", plural: ''réis'' or rchaic''reais'') was the unit of

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

from around 1430 until 1911. It replaced the '' dinheiro'' at the rate of 1 real = libras = 70 soldos = 840 dinheiros and was itself replaced by the ''

escudo The escudo ( Portuguese: 'shield') is a unit of currency which is used in Cape Verde, and which has been used by Portugal, Spain and their colonies. The original coin was worth 16 silver . The Cape Verdean escudo is, and the Portuguese escudo ...

'' (as a result of the

Republican revolution The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party's (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House o ...

of 1910) at a rate of 1 escudo = 1000 réis. The ''escudo'' was further replaced by the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

at a rate of 1 euro = 200.482 ''escudos'' in 2002.

History

The first ''real'' was introduced by King Fernando I around 1380.Numária nacional
Tesouros Numismáticos Portugueses It was a silver coin and had a value of 120 '' dinheiros'' (10 ''soldos'' or ''libra''). In the reign of King João I (1385–1433), the ''real branco'' of ''libras'' (initially real cruzado ) and the ''real preto'' of 7 ''soldos'' ( 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

King Manuel I Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manue ...

(1495–1521), the name was simplified to ''real'', coinciding with the switch to minting ''real'' coins from copper. Due to the historically low value of the ''real'', large sums were usually expressed in ''

milréis The mil-réis (literally one thousand réis) was effectively a unit of currency in both Portugal (until 1911) and Brazil (until 1942). As the value of the Portuguese real has historically been low (minted in copper since the 16th century), accoun ...

'' (or ''mil-réis'') of 1,000 ''réis'', a term that has been in use since at least the 1760s. In figures, a ''mil-réis'' was written as 1$000, with the ''

cifrão The dollar sign, also known as the peso sign, is a currency symbol consisting of a capital crossed with one or two vertical strokes ( or depending on typeface), used to indicate the unit of various currencies around the world, includin ...

'' or $ sign functioning as a decimal point for monetary amounts, so that 60,500 ''réis'' would be written as 60$500 or 60.5 ''milréis''. Since the

Brazilian Gold Rush The Brazilian gold rush was a gold rush that started in the 1690s, in the then Portuguese colony of Brazil in the Portuguese Empire. The gold rush opened up the major gold-producing area of Ouro Preto ( Portuguese for ''black gold''), then know ...

of the 18th century, Portuguese gold coins gained currency worldwide, and especially with its ally the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Its most familiar gold coins were issued in multiples of gold ''escudos'', which were valued at 1$600 and which contained 3.286 g fine gold. The

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

of the early 19th century spawned the issue of the paper ''milréis'' which eventually depreciated versus the silver ''cruzado'' and the gold ''escudo''. The monetary reform of 1837 recognized the lower value of the ''milréis'' by increasing the value of the gold ''escudo'' from 1$600 to 2$000. It also changed the main unit of account from the ''real'' to the ''milréis'' (1$000) with decimal subdivisions used in its coins. The ''

Banco de Portugal The Banco de Portugal (, ) is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Portugal within the Eurosystem. It was the Portuguese central bank from 1846 to 1998, issuing the Portuguese escudo, escudo. Since 2014, it has also ...

'' issued its first banknotes in 1847. In 1854, Portugal adopted a

gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...

with the ''

'' equal to 1.62585 g fine gold. This standard was maintained until 1891. In 1911, the ''escudo'' replaced the ''real'' at the rate of 1 ''escudo'' = 1,000 ''réis'' as the Portuguese currency unit (not to be confused with the gold ''escudo'' worth 1$600). One million ''réis'' (or one thousand ''mil-réis'', written 1.000$000) was known as a ''conto de réis''. This term survived the introduction of the ''escudo'' to mean 1,000 ''escudos'' and is now used to mean five

s, almost exactly the converted value of 1,000 ''escudos'' or one million ''réis'' (1 ''conto'' is approximately €4.98798). The old Brazilian real was initially valued at par with the Portuguese real, but from 1740 it was valued lower by a factor of , increasing the value of the gold ''escudo'' from 1$600 to 1$760. After the Napoleonic Wars the Brazilian unit was devalued further, with the ''escudo'' rising to 2$500 in 1834 and 4$000 in 1846. Coins and banknotes were also issued denominated in ''réis'' for use in the different parts of the

. See: Angolan ''real'', Azorean ''real'', Brazilian ''real'', Cape Verde ''real'', Mozambican ''real'', Portuguese Guinea ''real'' and São Tomé and Príncipe ''real''. Brazil has revived the ''real'' as the denomination of its present currency. Portuguese influence in the Persian Gulf, especially in

Portuguese Oman Portuguese Oman refers to the period during which the northern coastal cities of Oman were under Portuguese rule, between 1507 and 1656. The coastal region was conquered by Portuguese forces under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque in 1507, an ...

extended the use of the term "real", though not the actual currency or value, to the Middle East and the slightly Arabicized form of the word "real", the "riyal" is the currency of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the current (but soon to be former currency in favor of the toman) of Iran. Beck, Sanderson (2004). "East Africa, Portuguese, and Arabs". Middle East & Africa to 1875. http://www.san.beck.org/1-13-Africa1500-1800.html Retrieved 2022-07-28.

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 King João II. It was fixed at a value of 400 ''réis'' during King João III's reign and this remained the value of the silver ''cruzado'' until the reign of King Pedro II, when it was revalued to 480 ''réis''. Meanwhile, the gold ''cruzado'' rose in value to 750 ''réis'' in the reign of King João IV, then to 875 ''réis'' in the reign of King Afonso VI before its demise. The last 1 ''real'' coins (excluding colonial issues) were minted in the 1580s. After this time, the smallest coins were worth ''réis''. These were minted until around 1750, after which the three ''real'' coin became the smallest circulating denomination. Gold coins issued during the

of the 18th century belonged to either the ''moidore'' series of 1688–1732 or the ''joannese'' series of 1722–1835. A description of the coins of the ''moidore'' series: * The most familiar coin of this series is the ''moeda d'ouro'' (literally "gold coin", and commonly Anglicised as the '' moidore''), stamped 4,000 réis but actually valued 20% higher or 4,800 réis (4$800). This coin weighed ''onça'' (explained below) and contained 9.86 g fine gold. * Valued proportionately are coins of 480 ''réis'' (the ''cruzado''), 1$200, 2$400, 12$000, and 24$000 (the ''dobrão''), though they are stamped with their old values of 400, 1$000, 2$000, 10$000 and 20$000 réis, respectively. * Silver coins were issued in denominations of 480 réis (''cruzado'') and 240, 100 (''tostão''), and 50 réis, though stamped with their old values of 400, 200, 80 and 40 réis, respectively. * Copper coins were issued in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 20 and 40 réis. While silver and copper denominations were left unchanged by the ''joannese'' series of 1722–1835, gold coins were issued instead in binary fractions of the gold ''onça'' (or ounce), which contained 28.68 g of 22-

karat The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardn ...

or 91.7% fine gold, and which was valued at 12$800. The most familiar coin of this series is the ''peça'' or ''onça'' worth 6$400. Other denominations include the half-''peça'' of 3$200, the ''escudo'' of 1$600, and the half-''escudo'' of 0$800. As the

was on the

starting 1717, Portuguese gold coins widely circulated there at the rate of 27

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...

(£1.35) for the ''moidore'' (4$800) and 9 shillings (£0.45) for the ''escudo'' (1$600). Gold '' moidores'' and ''joes'' of the

were often mentioned in English literary references of the 18th and 19th centuries. Following the depreciation of the paper ''milréis'' during and after the

of the early 19th century, the gold ''peça'' of 13.145 g fine gold was raised in value from 6$400 to 7$500 in 1826, 8$000 in 1837, and 8$085 in 1854 (when the gold standard of 1.62585 g fine gold per ''milréis'' was implemented). PRT027

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 1,000 réis and gold 1$000, 2$000, 2$500, 5$000 and 10$000. In 1875, the last 3 ''real'' coins were issued, with cupronickel 50 and 100 réis issued in 1900. During Portugal's

era from 1854 to 1891 the British gold sovereign or £1 coin was widely accepted in circulation with a value of 4$500.

Banknotes

Portugal's first paper money was introduced in 1797 by the government. Denominations issued until 1807 included 1$200, 2$400, 5$000, 6$400, 10$000, 12$000 and 20$000 ''réis''. Some of these notes were revalidated for continued use during the War of the Two Brothers (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 4$800 ''réis''. This bank issued notes for 1$200 and 2$400 ''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 ''

'' introduced notes for 10$000 and 20$000 ''réis''. 5$000 ''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, 1$000 and 2$500 ''réis'', followed by 100$000 ''real'' notes in 1894.

References

Bibliography

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External links