Português (coin)

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The portugues, also known as the golden Portuguese, was a high-value 16th-century Portuguese gold coin—the most valuable coin in Europe when it appeared. King Manuel commissioned it to honor the Portuguese Empire and Discoveries, and it was minted just before Vasco da Gama’s voyage to India in 1497. It weighed about 35 grams and was worth 10 gold cruzados (ducats). The obverse showed Portugal’s coat of arms and the royal title in Latin; the reverse displayed the Cross of the Order of Christ with the motto “In Hoc Signo Vinces” (“By This Sign You Shall Triumph”).

The coin was intended for prestige and large commercial deals (such as buying spices in Asia) rather than everyday use, and it remained in issue through Manuel’s reign and that of his successor John III before being discontinued in 1555. About 400,000 portuguesas were struck between 1500 and 1538, totaling around 14.2 tons of gold. In November 2011, Portugal issued 150,000 commemorative replicas worth €7.50 each.

Its international prestige led many northern European states to mint their own versions, called portugalesers or portugalösers, valued at roughly 2.5 to 10 ducats and often featuring the Cross of Christ. These coins continued in places like Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, and Sweden into the 17th century. In the Netherlands, Deventer and Zwolle minted portugalesers in 1640–1641 to trade for sugar from Dutch Brazil. Hamburg produced many between 1553–1560, and since 1676 has issued them as commemorative medals for merit, a tradition it still maintains today.