The Portugal Gold Reis is also known as the Portuguese real or simply, “the real”. The word Reis was preceded by the words real, which means “royal”, and its plural, “reais”. It was Portugal’s currency from 1430 to 1911 having been introduced as a replacement of the dinheiro. Although no source was found that clearly indicates when the first Portugal Gold Reis was struck, our research found a 500 Reis of 1578 as the earliest.
The Portugal Gold Reis coin comes in various denominations including the 500, 1000, 4000, 4400 and 5000. The 500 Reis were minted between 1577 and 1578 under the rule of Dom Sebastião I. it is 24mm wide, weighs 3.51g. The 1000 Reis were minted in 1645 under the Dom Sebastião I’s reign. It is 24mm wide, weighs 3.8g, and has a gold purity of .9219. The 4000 Reis were minted between 1662 and 1668 at .9166 gold fineness. It weighs 12.2g and is 32mm wide. The 4400 one was struck in 1668, has a weight of 12.1g, is 32mm wide and has a purity of .9166. The 5000 Reis – Luiz I was struck between 1867 and 1889, weigh 8.8675g and has a gold fineness of .91666.
The obverse and reverse features of the various Portugal Gold Reis coins are different depending on the year of mintage and the regime under which they were struck. For example, the 1578 500-Reis coin has a crowned coat of arms at the center with the inscription, “SEBASTIANVS . I . REX . PORTVG” separated by the Jerusalem Cross at the top. The reverse bears a big cross potent with the text, “* IN * HOC * SIGNO * VIN”.
The 5000 Reis – Luiz I has the head of Luís I of Portugal facing to the left and surrounded by the text, “LUDOVICUS·I·PORTUG: ET·ALGARB: REX” while the year and the abbreviations, “F.A.C.” (for Frederico Augusto de Campos, the engraver) are below the portrait. The reverse has the coat of arms and face value. Investors and collectors do not pay sales tax or VAT for trading in the Portugal Gold Reis.
