Portugal 500 Escudos

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 1917 and 1925, the Casa da Moeda introduced notes in denominations of 5, 10 and 20 centavos. At the same time, the Bank of Portugal introduced notes in denominations of 50 cents, $ 1, $ 2, $ 5, $ 10, $ 20, $ 50, $ 100, $ 500, and $ 1,000 between 1913 and 1922. The 50 centavos and $1 note were withdrawn in 1920, followed by the 2, 5$ and 10$ notes in 1925 and 1926. The $ 5,000 note was launched in 1942, and the last $ 20 and $ 50 notes were issued in 1978 and 1980, respectively, with $ 100 notes being replaced by coins in 1989, the same year as the $ 10,000 note. Until February 28, 2022, the last series of escudo banknotes can be returned to Banco de Portugal’s central bank and converted to euros.

The 500 Portuguese escudo note front design features the portrait of João de Barros (1496 – 1570), also known as the Portuguese Livy, was one of the first prominent Portuguese historians, well known for his history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and Southeast Africa, Décadas da sia (“Decades of Asia,” followed by a representation of the book in which he exposes the chronicles of his travels.

The reverse of the note presents a scene that represents the life of João de Barros in India; the “sphere of letters”; which was destined for the teaching of reading, followed by the adaptation of two figures, which symbolizes a man of science and letters and a merchant, with naus as a background. The lettering of the note is presented in the Portuguese language. This note is part of the 1997 – 2000 series, and its color is violet and brown on a multicolor underprint.