Xx Reis 1697 Pppp Brasil

XX Reis 1697 PPPP(Porto-PT)
Struck to Angola
Authorized to circulate in Brazil by the Royal Charter of February 10th of 1704
It's very hard to find these coins in good shape since some of them ended up circulating for more than a hundred years. There are examples of them with the shield counterstamp (1809)(there are also many fake ones), used as a base for a XL Reis struck in Bahia (1820), and with the "20" counterstamp (1835)(most are also fake, but there are originals reported and photographed since 1908).
Recently I've been working in a catalog with all the dies used to struck the XX Reis struck for Angola, so if by any chance you have a very worn out one and want to discover the year post a pic

The lettering means:
MODERATO SPLENDEAT VSV - it will shine when moderately used)
PETRVS.II.D.G.PORTVG.R.D.AETHIOP (PETRUS SECUNDUS DEI GRATIA PORTUGALIÆ REX DOMINUS ÆTHIOPIÆ) - Pedro II by the grace of god, king of Portugal and Lord of Etiopia (Lord is not the best translation, but I couldn't come up with a better one...)


u