2.5 Escudos

Portugal's 2.5 Escudos silver coinage of this period was a product of the Estado Novo's managed economy under Salazar, which kept small silver denominations in circulation well past the point where most Western European nations had abandoned them. The 1951 issue is the first year of this particular type — Gomes R 16.01 marks it as the inaugural emission — making it the die-fresh baseline against which subsequent years in the series are measured.

The .650 fineness was a deliberate reduction from earlier Republican-era silver standards, reflecting postwar metal economics rather than any debasement crisis.