A Collection Of Coins From Portugal

Looks like a nice selection! I look forward to the pics, hfjacinto.

First off a few pictures of Portugal.

We went to go see Elizabeth's father as he didn't make it to the US for Christmas.

We got up early the first day to go the farmers market.



Picked up a cheese, some bread and local wine.



After lunch, he was tired so Elizabeth and I made the best of the rest of the day before having dinner with him.

We went to Coimbra for an espresso, and some walking around. We walked a lot.



As it was still early, I wanted to see the roman ruins at Conímbriga a few kilometers away. Conímbriga is one of the largest Roman settlements excavated in Portugal, and is classified as a National Monument. Conímbriga is a walled urban settlement, encircled by a curtain of stone structures. The walls are paralleled by two passages, channelled to excavations, that remove water infiltration from the walls. The urban settlement consists of various structures, including a forum, basilica and commercial shops, thermal spas, aqueducts, insulae, homes of various heights (including interior patios) and domus (such as the Casa dos Repuxos and Casa de Cantaber), in addition to a paleo-Christian basilica.

These are some of the tiled floors that have been excavated. I felt like I was being watched.



While the walls, baths, forums and mosaics are impressive, the house of fountains is the most excavated. This was not the largest home, there is 1 larger, but it has the largest outdoor space. The water would move via aqueducts that brought water from nearby hills.



As we could hear water in caverns below we were wondering if there was a river nearby, one of the tour guides in the museum, told us there was a waterfall nearby. Yes technically its nearby, literally down the cavern wall, but you had to walk a km uphill, then 1 km downhill and another km south to be at the waterfall.



As to keep this coin related. The museum attached to the ruins have a lot of what was excavated including several roman gold and silver coins.

All coins posted will be in date order from oldest to youngest.

First up is a ½ Tostão from 1799 to1816, there are 2 version of this coin, this one is João Prince Regent. The difference is that KM 310 says Joao Prince of Portugal and Algarve, while this one says Prince Regent.

While this coin is XXXX (or 40), they are in effect worth 20% more, so this coin was worth 50 reis.

The coin was minted from 1799-1816 while Joao served as king due to his mothers' mental illness. Joao has the unique status of being a Prince Regent, a King in Exile (due to the movement of the monarchy from Portugal to Brazil due to Napoleon taking over Portugal), the emperor of Brazil and then having to move back to Portugal after a rebellion left no one as king. His wife also worked against him as she was loyal to kingdom of Spain. He was also the last absolute king of Portugal. No wonder he died at 58.

The coin:




While this coin is pretty rare, the one without Regent is 1/10 the mintage and much more costlier.

Issuer: Portugal
Regent: João (1799-1816)
Type: Standard circulation coin
Years: 1799-1816
Value: 50 Reis = ½ Tostão
Currency Real: (mechanical coinage, 1678-1835)
Composition: Silver (.917)
Weight: 1.53 g
Diameter: 17 mm
Shape: Round
Demonetized: Yes
References: KM311
Mintage: 233,414

A good coin .

A few more pictures of why no one should visit Portugal.

When you go to Costa Nova, the houses are all stripes. Can't we just paint them 1 color?



And on sunny days, what's with the blue sky? Does it have to be this blue?



And with castles everywhere, which one do you go to? Just too many to visit.



And can we put a roof on a church, Its been 3 hundred years since the earthquake in 1755.



A little better.



And Lisbon is SOOO hilly. Going 100 meters is all uphill both ways. I mean they so have Furniculars but still.



Well when so high you do get a cool view.



But the worst part is that almost everywhere you build you have roman and preroman ruins. And if they have significant impact you have to save them. This poor bank had to elevate its building and made the basement available due to the phoenician ruins and the kilns they found. And they made it free and with a guided tour. Poor bank.



So don't go to Portugal

I love your pics, hfjacinto! You're making Portugal move higher and higher up my to-visit list! I still kick myself for not taking a trip there during our 8 years living in Holland and Scotland...

And, that 3 reis coin is really nice, as well!

Thanks all!

Today's coin is 50 reis in Copper Nickel. This is only a 1 year issue along with the 100 reis. Prior to this, the 50 reis were in silver.

Its also not an easy coin to get in a good grade. Most did see circulation. I looked through about 20 before picking this one.





Issuer: Portugal
King Carlos I (1889-1908)
Type: Standard circulation coin
Year : 900
Value: 50 Reis
Currency: Real (decimalized, 1835-1910)
Composition: Copper-nickel
Weight: 2.5 g
Diameter: 18 mm
Shape: Round
Technique: Milled
Orientation: Coin alignment
Demonetized: Yes
Reference: KM545
Mintage: 8,000,000

Very nice!