The County of Portugal was founded in 1093, and became a Kingdom on July 27, 1139. Brazil and the Kingdom of Portugal were separated on May 13, 1825, and the Portuguese Republic was declared on October 5, 1910. The Azores and Madeira Islands are formally part of Portugal.
Under Islamic rule Portugal was part of the caliphate of Cordoba and used copper fals, silver dirhams and gold dinars. Alfonso I Hneriques (1112-85) was the first king of Portugal and began issuing base-silver dinherios and mealhas. His son, Sancho I (1185-1211) introduced a gold morabitino equal in value to two Arabic dinars.
Portugal used a system based on the Livre in the Twelfth Century with 1 Livre divisible into 20 Soldos or 240 Dinheiros. The Gold Dobra (PTD) was established as the highest denomination coin on April 4, 1722, with 1 Dobra equal to 2 Moeda, 4 Escudos or 12,800 Reis. The monetary system soon became focused on the Real (plural Reis) with the Real (PTR) being the lowest denomination, and 1 Cruzado equal to 1000 Reis (Mil Reis). The Edict of April 24, 1835 made the Mil Reis (PTM) the principal unit of account, and fixed the Gold Coroa (Crown) at 5,000 Reis, the Gold Escudo at 2,000 Reis, the silver Coroa at 1000 Reis, and the silver Tostao at 100 Reis.
After the Portuguese Republic was founded, the Escudo (PTE) replaced the Mil Reis at par. On June 9, 1931, Portugal introduced the Conto as the unit of account, equal to 1000 Escudos. The Escudo is divisible into 100 Centavos. The Banco de Portugal was established in 1847 and gained the sole right to issue banknotes in 1887. The Banco Nacional Ultramarino, established in 1864, had the exclusive right to issue banknotes in Portuguese colonies. Portugal went off the Gold Standard in October 1931. Exchange controls were in place between February 9, 1948 and January 1, 1993.
Portugal adopted the Euro as its currency on January 1, 1999, with 1 Euro equal to 200.482 Escudos. Banknotes and coins, issued by the European Central Bank, were introduced on January 1, 2002 and the Escudo ceased to be legal tender on February 28, 2001. Portuguese Escudos (and the Euro) are also used in the Azores and Madeira Islands.
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino was the issuing bank for Portugal’s colonies. It opened branches in Luanda (Angola) and Cidade de Praia (Cape Verde) in 1865, San Tome, Goa (India) and Mozambique in 1868, Macau and Bolama (Portuguese Guinea in 1902, and Dili (East Timor in 1912. The Banco Nacional Ultramarino was nationalized in 1974, and lost its banknoge-issuing rights in 1975, though it still issues banknotes in Macau. Some notes were issued for the Azores and the Madeira islands, but they never issued regularly. |
