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75 Réis - João IV Countermarked 1/2 Tostão
| Issuer | Brazil |
|---|---|
| Year | 1663 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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| Obverse description | The obverse displays the Portuguese royal arms as they appear on the host coin, a hammered 1/2 Tostão of João IV: the quintas shield arrangement featuring five escutcheons each charged with five bezants (quinas), enclosed within a bordure of castles, all set within a beaded inner circle. A Latin legend surrounds the composition along the outer rim. A Type 4 Brazilian countermark, applied in 1663 by order of the colonial authorities, is struck over the host coin's field, validating its revalued circulation at 75 Réis. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
In 1663, the Portuguese crown authorized a sweeping countermark program across Brazilian colonial coinage to revalue and legitimize existing circulation stock — a direct response to chronic silver shortages and the monetary chaos that followed decades of war with Spain and the Dutch occupation of Pernambuco. Worn 1/2 tostões already in circulation were stamped and assigned a new nominal value of 75 réis, effectively stretching the coin supply without shipping new metal from Lisbon.
João IV himself had died in 1656, making the attribution of his name to this 1663 issue a posthumous administrative formality — the countermark referenced the original host coin's reign, not the authority performing the restamping.