Portugal 100 Escudos

Description

The Portuguese escudo was the official currency of Portugal before the introduction of the euro in 1999. The official currency symbol: $.

The escudo was firstly introduced in 1722 and was minted generally during the 18th century. Nazi Germany used Swiss banks to acquire the escudos as foreign money to purchase in Portugal and other neutral nations during World War II. The escudo was used in the Portuguese mainland, the Azores, Madeira, and Portugal’s African colonies; the escudo was generally used up to independence, in the form of Banco Nacional Ultramarino and Banco de Angola banknotes.

Between 1912 and 1916, coins were introduced in denominations of 10, 20, and 50 centavos, and 1$. The 5$coin was issued in 1920, followed by 10$ in 1932. The 25$ coin was minted between 1971 and 1977. In 1986 a new series of coins was announced, consisting of $ 1, $ 5, and $ 10, $ 20, $ 50, $ 100, and $ 200. The coins began to be introduced between 1989 and 1991, but these coins were replaced by the euro a few years later.

The 100 Portuguese escudos coin front design features the National Coat of Arms, the denomination, the country’s name, and the issue date.

The reverse of the coin illustrates Pedro Nunes (1502 – 1578), was a Portuguese mathematician, cosmographer, and professor who proposed the idea of the Rhumb line (an arc crossing all meridians of longitude at the same angle, that is, a path with constant bearing as measured relative to true north). Pedro is holding a Rhumb line artifact that represents his navigations vision. The main image is surrounded by twelve stars in which each two of them is a letter, which in full make the word EUROPE. This coin is part of the 1989 – 2001 series, its rim is segmented and milled, and its color is gold and silver.