Portugal's final pre-euro coin series

Started by <k>, November 25, 2018, 01:15:34 PM

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<k>

Portugal 50 escudos 1986'.jpg


Here I will start with the obverse of the highest circulating coin denomination.

It was the 50 escudos coin, which was first issued in 1986.
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<k>

#1
Portugal 50 escudos 1986--.jpg

Here you see the reverse of the 50 escudos coin, which features a cog ship.
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<k>

#2
Ceramic bowl.jpg

Image © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.


The design on the 50 escudos is taken from this ceramic bowl.

It is in the possession of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.


This spectacular bowl is made of earthenware covered with an opaque tin glaze and painted in lustre, a metallic pigment. It is decorated with a ship that has the arms of Portugal on its sail, and it may well have been commissioned by a Portuguese maritime merchant. It was long presumed that this bowl came from the famous lustre potteries around Valencia on the east coast of Spain. They were active from around 1300, when this region was under Christian rule, although the techniques employed (notably the tin glaze and lustre decoration) were of Islamic origin. It is thought that these techniques were introduced to Valencia by potters from Málaga, a port on the south coast of Spain that remained in Muslim hands until 1487.

Ceramics were produced at Málaga for export as well as local consumption: the famous Arab traveller Ibn Battutah recorded in about 1350 that the city produced, 'wonderful gilded pottery that is exported to the remotest countries'. By around 1400, however, Valencia was rapidly overtaking Málaga as a supplier of fine pottery to the wealthy, and production in Málaga appears to have ceased abruptly by about 1450.

In 1983 scientific analysis of the clay body of the bowl showed that it contained schistose inclusions characteristic of the wares from Málaga itself. The bowl, which can be dated to the mid 15th century, therefore demonstrates that the lustre workshops of Málaga were still producing ceramics of outstanding quality during the last decades of their existence. It stands at the end of one great tradition and at the beginning of another.
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<k>

#3
Portugal 1 escudo 2000.jpg


The obverse of the 1 escudo coin.

It was issued from 1986 to 2001.


The design includes a nautical rope at top.

Portugal is a maritime nation.
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<k>

#4
Portugal 1 escudo 2000-.jpg

The reverse features ornamental embroidery.
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<k>

#5
Portugal 5 escudos 1998-.jpg

The 5 escudos featured a stained glass window.
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<k>

#6
Portugal 10 escudos 1998=.jpg


The 10 escudos featured gold filigree work.

The 1, 5 and 10 escudos coins all had the same obverse design.
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<k>

#7
Portugal 20 escudos 1999-.jpg


The 20 escudos featured a nautical compass on the reverse.

Like the 50 escudos coin, it had a polygonal inner rim.

Like the reverse of the 50 escudos coin, the design does not include any text.
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<k>

#8
Portugal 20 escudos 1999~.jpg

The obverse of the 20 escudos coin.
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<k>

Of all these coins, the 50 escudos was the highest denomination of circulating coin before the adoption of the euro.
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Figleaf

Bravo, <k>. You put life into these (for coin collectors) everyday items. I highly appreciate the story of where the ship design came from. At the same time, I wonder why Portugal's past is so important for coin design - a characteristic maintained on the euro coins. Portugal has more to offer than a rich past.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

<k>

Well, the past begins only a moment ago, but I know what you mean. I do find Portugal's euro designs rather backward-looking for a republic, yet our member chrisild says he likes them. As an Englishman I also would level the same charge at the UK's coin designs.
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<k>

#12


Portugal, 5 escudos, 1972. 

A carrack, possibly meant to represent the São Gabriel, Vasco da Gama's flagship.



Portugal $10 1954.jpg

Portugal, 10 escudos, 1954. 
 
Another carrack: the Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai, flag ship of Vasco da Gama.
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chrisild

Yes, I do like the country specific sides of the Portuguese euro and cent coins ;) but of course a little more variety would have been welcome. As for the coins you show us here, the 1, 5 and 10 escudos coins I find interesting because of the ornaments. And I do like the reverse of the first one, not just because of the ship but also because the designers added many details from the bowl. (Hope those squiggly lines are not supposed to be jellyfish, hehe.)

What I also noticed is the absence of the dollar. ;D  Many Portuguese coins did not have the word "escudo" but used the cifrão instead: a divider that looked like a dollar symbol and would appear between the escudo and centavo digits. The more recent coins, like the ones here, do not have it any more.

Christian

<k>

#14
Quote from: chrisild on November 25, 2018, 08:29:06 PMMany Portuguese coins did not have the word "escudo" but used the cifrão instead: a divider that looked like a dollar symbol and would appear between the escudo and centavo digits.
Portugal 2.5 escudos 1966.jpg

cifrão - well, I learn something new every Sunday.
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