Shortly after I started collecting Brazilian coins I learned more about the history of Brazil. This led me to also learn about its mother country, Portugal. Brazil was discovered by a Portuguese expedition that was led by Pedro Álvares Cabral on April 22, 1500. Since Brazil was a Portuguese colony between 1500 and September 7, 1822, when it declared its independence, the rulers of Portugal were also de facto rulers of Brazil during this period. 

Portugal was a global trading and maritime power during the 15th and 16th centuries.  In addition to Brazil, it’s explorers allowed Portugal to develop numerous colonies in Africa, America, India, and Southeast Asia. The Portuguese Colonial Empire was the first truly global empire and the longest-lasting colonial empire in history—from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Macau to China in 1999. A brief history of the rise and fall of the Portuguese Colonial Empire is outlined by Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Empire:

•    Conquest of Ceuta, 1415
•    Sea route to India, 1498
•    Colonial Brazil, 1500
•    Iberian Union, 1580–1640
•    Dutch-Portuguese War (1588–1654)
•    Portuguese Restoration War (1640–1668)
•    End of Moroccan territories (1769)
•    Independence of Brazil (1822)
•    Loss of Indian provinces (1961)
•    Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974)
•    Carnation Revolution (1974–1975)
•    Handover of Macau (1999)

Because of its vast empire, which stretched around the globe, and the large quantities of materials that Portugal received from the colonies (especially the gold that came from Brazil), the Portuguese Empire became the holder of what we today call the global reserve currency.  A list of the other countries that have held the global reserve currency throughout history are listed below:

•    Portugal (1450–1530)
•    Spain (1530–1640)
•    Netherlands (1640–1720)
•    France (1720–1815)
•    Great Britain (1815–1920)
•    United States (1921 to today)

Another thing that that I learned about Portugal and Brazil is that many of the gold coins that circulated in Brazil and Portugal were the same with the exception that they were struck at different mints and they had different mint marks. In the case of the coins that were struck at Lisbon, Portugal, there weren’t any mint marks on these coins.  I’ll talk more about this in a later post.

There are some reasons why collecting Portuguese coins is easier and cheaper than for those from Brazil.  The primary reason is that Portuguese coins can typically be found in better states of preservation than those from Brazil.  Since a large part of Brazil (over 2/3) is covered by rain forests, the humidity level is very high, which can cause corrosion of copper and silver coins.  Fortunately, gold is the most non-reactive of all metals so humidity doesn’t affect gold coins as much. Note that there is about 8% of copper in gold coins from Portugal and Brazil, which can occasionally cause some issues. Another reason is that since Portugal was a more advanced country than Brazil, there were probably many more coin collectors located in Portugal and the surrounding countries in Europe than there were in Brazil during the period when Brazil was a colony of Portugal.  I would guess that many of the well-preserved copper and silver coins from Brazil were probably saved by collectors in Europe. Since there are more well-preserved coins from Portugal than Brazil, the Portuguese coins are also usually cheaper than those from Brazil.

Like the United States of America and Brazil, Portugal also had a main mint (in Lisbon, Portugal) and branch mints. As I will discuss later,  all of the mints in Brazil can be considered as branch mints of Lisbon during the time that Brazil was a colony. Here is a list of the mints in Portugal along with their mint marks and their time in operation:
•    Lisbon, L, or none, 13th or 14th century until present
•    Porto, P, 14th century – 1721
•    Evora, E, 14th century – 1667

Here is a list of the rulers of Portugal and Brazil during the period when Brazil was a colony of Portugal:

•    2nd Dynasty (1385-1580)
   o    D. Manuel I - The Venturous (1495-1521)
•    Brazil discovered in 1500
   o    D. Joao III - The Pious (1521-1557)
   o    D. Sebastiao I - The Desire (1557-1578)
   o    D. Henrique I - The Chaste (1578-1580)
•    2nd Interregnum (1580)
   o    D. Antonio I – Prior of Crato (1580-1583)
•    3rd Dynasty (1580-1640)
   o    D. Filipe I - The Prudent (1580-1598) 
   o    D. Filipe II – The Godly (1598-1621)
   o    D. Filipe III – The Grand (1621-1640)
•    4th Dynasty (1640-1910)
   o    D. Joao IV - The Restorer (1640-1656)
   o    D. Afonso VI - The Victorious (1656-1667)
   o    D. Pedro - Prince Regent (1667-1683)
•    Mechanical Coining (1683)
   o    D. Pedro II - The Pacific (1683-1706)
   o    D. Joao V - The Magnanimous (1706-1750)
   o    D. Jose I - The Reformer (1750-1777)
   o    D. Maria I and D. Pedro III (1777-1786)
   o    D. Maria I - The Pious (1786-1799)
   o    D. Joao - Prince Regent (1799-1816)
   o    D. Joao VI – The Clement (1816-1822)
•     Brazil’s Independence (September 7, 1822)

Here is a list of Portuguese rulers after Brazil’s independence:
•    D. Joao VI – The Clement (1816-1826)
   o    Brazil’s Independence (September 7, 1822)
•    D. Pedro IV - Soldier King (1826-1828)
•    D. Miguel I – Absolute (1828-1834)
•    D. Maria II - The Educator (1834-1853)
•    D. Pedro V - The Hopeful (1853-1861)
•    D. Luis I – The Popular (1861-1889)
•    D. Carlos I - The Unfortunate (1889-1908)
•    D. Manuel II – (1908-1910)
•    Republic (1910-1999)
•    Euro Adopted (January 1, 1999)

Here are some of my favorite sets of coins for Portugal:
•    Joao, Type Set, 1799-1826, Circulation Issue, https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/221288/
•    Miguel, Type Set, 1828-1834, Circulation Issue, https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/221906/
•    Maria II, Type Set, 1833-1853, Circulation Issue, https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/221617/

Here I provide information about the 5 coins shown in the header, i.e., Ruler, date, mint, denomination, grade, NGC population (total, same grade, higher grade). All of these coins were struck in the Lisbon, Portugal mint without a mint mark.
•    D. Pedro II, 1691, 1000 Reis, gold, NGC MS62, (2,1,0)
•    D. Joao V, 1736, Pinto (480 Reis), gold, NGC MS66, (9,1,0)
•    D. Jose I, 1771, Pinto (480 Reis), gold, NGC MS66, (6,1,0)
•    D. Joao Prince Regent, 1802, Peca (6400 Reis), gold, NGC MS62, (11,6,2)
•    D. Pedro IV, 1828, Peca (6400 Reis), gold, NGC61, (4,1,1)

The three coins on the left side of the header are the first three coins that I purchased from Portugal.  The two Pintos are incredible coins.  It’s amazing that they are this well preserved (i.e., MS66) considering they are more than 250 years old. I will discuss more about Portuguese Pintos in my next post.