The debut introduction of the Portugal Gold Escudo coin was in 1722. It came in denominations of 8, 4, 2, and ½ escudos. The respective denominations continued being struck until 1730, 1799, 1789, and 1821 respectively. Portugal Gold Escudo was then reintroduced as uncirculated, commemorative coinage between 1911 and 2001 in denominations of 1, 100, and 200 escudos.
The commemorative 1 Portugal Gold Escudo is also known as the last escudo. It was struck in 2011 at 4.6g gross weight, 16mm diameter, and with a purity of .917. The obverse has a stylized flower above the text, “1” and ESCUDO” flanked by the inscriptions, “H. BATISTA” and “incm” on the left and right sides. The reverse has the Portuguese arms and the texts, “REPUBLICA PORTUGUESA 2001” run clockwise from top-right corner to the top-left corner.
The 100 Portugal Gold Escudo was issued in commemoration of various periods of the Golden Age of Portuguese Discoveries such as the Gil Eanes, Nuno Tristão, Diogo Cão, and Bartolomeu Dias. They all weigh 24g, is 34mm wide and have a fineness of .917. The obverse features are different. For example, the Gil Eanes version has an encircled shield surrounded by the texts, “REPUBLICA PORTUGUESA” to the top and “100 ESCUDOS” to the bottom. The reverse has a sail boat taking up nearly half of the area surrounded by the texts, “GIL EANES · 1434 · CABO BOJADOR ✠ 1987 ✠ S. MACHADO” and “incm”.
The 200 Portugal Gold Escudo also has commemorative variations such as the Daimios of Omura, First portugueses in Tanegeshima island, Henrique o Navegador’s discoveries series, and the 500th Anniversary of the Treaty of Tordesilhas. However, all the 200 Portugal Gold Escudo commemorative coins are all demonetized, 27.2g heavy, 36mm wide and have a gold fineness of .917. All the commemorative Portugal Gold Escudo coins were minted by Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda (the Portuguese mint and national press), which was established in 1972. The same Mint minted earlier versions but, it was called the Lisbon Mint back then. No sales tax or VAT is charged for trading in the Portugal Gold Escudos.
