1/2 Peça - José I Lisboa, Bahia and Rio mints

José I came to the throne in 1750 inheriting a mint system still flush with Brazilian gold, but the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 destroyed much of the capital's infrastructure, temporarily shifting production weight onto the colonial mints at Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. The half-peça — nominally a 3,200-réis piece — was the workhorse denomination of Pombaline-era commerce, circulating across the Atlantic world at a moment when Portugal's Brazilian revenues were financing reconstruction on an imperial scale.

Pieces from the three mints are distinguishable by their mint marks and carry slightly different die characteristics; Bahia strikes from this series are generally the scarcest of the three.