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The real (meaning: "royal", plural: réis) was the unit of currency
Currency

A currency is a Medium of exchange, facilitating the trade of goods and/or Service s. It is coins and paper bills used as money. It is one form of money, where money is anything that serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a standard of value....
 of Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 from around 1430 until 1911. It replaced the dinheiro
Portuguese dinheiro

The dinheiro was the currency of Portugal from around the late 12th century until approximately 1433. For accounting purposes, twelve dinheiros equalled one soldo and twenty soldos equal one libra....
 at the rate of 1 real = 840 dinheiros and was itself replaced by the escudo
Portuguese escudo

The escudo was the currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999 and was removed from circulation on 28 February 2002....
 (as a result of the Republican revolution of 1910) at a rate of 1 escudo = 1000 réis. The escudo was further replaced by the euro
Euro

The euro is the official currency of 16 out of 27 European Union member state of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain....
 at a rate of 1 euro = 200.482 escudos in 1998.

first real was introduced by Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I of Portugal

Ferdinand I , sometimes referred to as the Handsome or rarely as the Inconstant , was the ninth List of Portuguese monarchs, the second son of Peter I of Portugal and his wife, Constance of Castile....
 in around 1380. It was a silver coin and had a value of 120 dinheiros
Portuguese dinheiro

The dinheiro was the currency of Portugal from around the late 12th century until approximately 1433. For accounting purposes, twelve dinheiros equalled one soldo and twenty soldos equal one libra....
 (10 soldos or ½ libra).






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The real (meaning: "royal", plural: réis) was the unit of currency
Currency

A currency is a Medium of exchange, facilitating the trade of goods and/or Service s. It is coins and paper bills used as money. It is one form of money, where money is anything that serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a standard of value....
 of Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 from around 1430 until 1911. It replaced the dinheiro
Portuguese dinheiro

The dinheiro was the currency of Portugal from around the late 12th century until approximately 1433. For accounting purposes, twelve dinheiros equalled one soldo and twenty soldos equal one libra....
 at the rate of 1 real = 840 dinheiros and was itself replaced by the escudo
Portuguese escudo

The escudo was the currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999 and was removed from circulation on 28 February 2002....
 (as a result of the Republican revolution of 1910) at a rate of 1 escudo = 1000 réis. The escudo was further replaced by the euro
Euro

The euro is the official currency of 16 out of 27 European Union member state of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain....
 at a rate of 1 euro = 200.482 escudos in 1998.

History

The first real was introduced by Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I of Portugal

Ferdinand I , sometimes referred to as the Handsome or rarely as the Inconstant , was the ninth List of Portuguese monarchs, the second son of Peter I of Portugal and his wife, Constance of Castile....
 in around 1380. It was a silver coin and had a value of 120 dinheiros
Portuguese dinheiro

The dinheiro was the currency of Portugal from around the late 12th century until approximately 1433. For accounting purposes, twelve dinheiros equalled one soldo and twenty soldos equal one libra....
 (10 soldos or ½ libra). In the reign of King João I
John I of Portugal

John I, Portuguese language: Jo?o, , called the Good or of Happy Memory, was the tenth List of Portuguese monarchs and the first to use the title Lord of Ceuta....
 (1385–1433), the real branco of 3½ libras and the real preto of 7 soldos (one tenth of a real branco) were issued. By the beginning of the reign of King Duarte I
Edward of Portugal

Edward, ; Viseu, , called the Philosopher or the Eloquent, was the eleventh List of Portuguese monarchs and second Lord of Ceuta from 1433 until his death....
 in 1433, the real branco (equivalent to 840 dinheiros) had become the unit of account in Portugal. From the reign of Manuel I
Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I ; Portuguese language: Manoel I, English language: Emmanuel I), the Fortunate , 14th List of Portuguese monarchs was the son of Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu, by his wife, Beatriz of Portugal ....
 (1495–1521), the name was simplified to "real", coinciding with the switch to minting real coins from copper.

In 1837, a decimal system was adopted for the coin denominations, with the first banknotes issued by the Banco de Portugal
Banco de Portugal

The Banco de Portugal is the central bank of the Republic of Portugal. Established by a royal charter of 19 November 1846 to act as a commercial bank and issuing bank, it came about as the result of a merger of the Banco de Lisboa and the Companhia de Confian?a Nacional, an investment company specialised in the financing of the public debt....
 in 1847. In 1854, Portugal went on to a gold standard
Gold standard

The gold standard is a monetary system in which a region's common media of exchange are paper notes that are normally freely convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold....
 of 1000 réis = 1.62585 grams fine gold. This standard was maintained until 1891.

Large sums were usually expressed as "mil-réis" (sometimes "milréis") or 1,000 réis, a term often found in 19th century Portuguese literature. In figures a mil-réis was written as 1$000, so that 60,000 réis would be written as 60$000 or 60 mil-réis.)

In 1911, the escudo replaced the real. One million réis was known as a conto de réis. This term survived the introduction of the escudo to mean 1000 escudos and is now used to mean five euro
Euro

The euro is the official currency of 16 out of 27 European Union member state of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain....
s, almost exactly the converted value of 1000 escudos or one million réis (precisely 1 conto = 4.98797897€).

Coins and banknotes were also issued denominated in réis for use in the different parts of the Portuguese empire
Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire was the first global empire in history and also the earliest and longest lived of the modern European Colonialism empires, spanning almost six centuries, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Macau in 1999....
. See: Angolan real
Angolan real

The real was the currency of Angola until 1914. It was equal to the Portuguese real. No subdivisions existed, but some coins were issued denominated in macutas, worth 50 r?is....
, Azorean real
Azorean real

The real was the currency of the Azores until 1911. It was equal to the Portuguese real. Coins were issued specifically for the Azores until 1901 and notes were issued between 1895 and 1910....
, Brazilian real
Brazilian real

The real is the present-day currency of Brazil and was also the currency during the period 1690 to 1942. When the first real circulated, the plural used was r?is....
, Cape Verde real, Mozambican real
Mozambican real

The real was the currency of Mozambique until 1914. It was equivalent to and circulated alongside the Portuguese real....
, Portuguese Guinea real and São Tomé and Príncipe real
São Tomé and Príncipe real

The real was the currency of S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe until 1914. It was equivalent to the Portuguese real. Coins were issued specifically for S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe until 1825 and banknotes were issued for the colony beginning in 1897....
. Brazil has revived the real as the denomination of its present currency.

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 João II
John II of Portugal

Jo?o II , the Perfect Prince , was the thirteenth List of Portuguese monarchs. He was born in Lisbon, the son of king Afonso V of Portugal by his wife, Isabel of Coimbra, princess of Portugal....
. It was fixed at a value of 400 réis during João III's
John III of Portugal

John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth Portuguese monarchy.Born in Lisbon, he was the son of Manuel I of Portugal and his queen consort, Maria of Aragon ....
 reign and this remained the value of the silver cruzado until the reign of Pedro II, when it was revalued to 480 réis. Meanwhile, the gold cruzado rose in value to 750 réis in the reign of João IV
John IV of Portugal

John IV was the king of Portugal from 1640 to his death. He was the grandson of Catherine, Duchess of Braganza, who had in 1580 claimed the Portuguese crown and sparked the struggle for the throne of Portugal....
, then to 875 réis in the reign of Afonso V
Afonso VI of Portugal

Afonso VI , or Affonso , was the twenty-second Kings of Portugal of Portugal and the Algarves, the second of the House of Braganza, known as "the Victorious" ....
 before its demise. Two denominations which did not change their values were the vintém of 20 réis and the tostão of 100 réis.

The last 1 real coins (excluding colonial issues) were minted in the 1580s. After this time, the smallest coins were worth 1½ réis. These were minted until around 1750, after which the three réis coin became the smallest circulating denomination. From the early 18th century, the standard gold coin was the peça, valued at 6400 réis (7500 réis after 1826).

In the late 18th century and early 19th century, copper coins were issued in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 20 and 40 réis, with silver 50, 60, 100, 120, 240 and 480 réis and gold 480, 800, 1200, 1600, 3200 and 6400 réis. Some of these coins showed denominations which were no longer accurate due to earlier revaluations. These included the 240 and 480 réis which were inscribed 200 and 400.

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 1000 réis and gold 1000, 2000, 2500, 5000 and 10,000 réis. In 1875, the last 3 réis coins were issued, with cupro-nickel 50 and 100 réis issued in 1900.

Banknotes

Portugal's first paper money was introduced in 1797 by the government. Denominations issued until 1807 included 1200, 2400, 5000, 6400, 10,000, 12,000 and 20,000 réis. Some of these notes were revalidated for continued use during the War of the Two Brothers
War of the Two Brothers

War of the Two Brothers refers to two different civil wars, one in Peru and one in Portugal. It may refer to:* The Inca Civil War in Peru of 1529-32...
.

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 4800 réis. This bank issued notes for 1200 and 2400 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 Banco de Portugal
Banco de Portugal

The Banco de Portugal is the central bank of the Republic of Portugal. Established by a royal charter of 19 November 1846 to act as a commercial bank and issuing bank, it came about as the result of a merger of the Banco de Lisboa and the Companhia de Confian?a Nacional, an investment company specialised in the financing of the public debt....
 introduced notes for 10,000 and 20,000 réis. 5000 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, 1000 and 2500 réis, followed by 100,000 réis notes in 1894.

See also

  • Economic history of Portugal
    Economic history of Portugal

    Portugal was once one of the largest and most powerful political, cultural and economic powers in the world. Since the 16th century to the end of the Estado Novo regime in 1974, Portugal's dominions were transcontinental, included diverse territories and a wide range of varied natural resources....


External links


  • Photos and descriptions of the coins of Portugal from the Kingdom to the euro.