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1/2 Tostão - Governadores
| Issuer | Portugal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1580 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 24 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A plain, boldly rendered cross pattée occupies the central field, set within a beaded inner circle. The surrounding legend * IN : HOC : SIGNO : VINCES, meaning 'In this sign thou shalt conquer,' is a well-known Constantinian motto adopted on Portuguese coinage. A six-pointed star serves as the legend's initial mark. The flan is irregularly shaped, exhibiting typical characteristics of hammered coinage, and the strike is moderately well-centred with some weakness at the periphery. |
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| Mintage | 1580: ND (1580) |
| Additional information |
1580 marks the year Philip II of Spain pressed his dynastic claim to the Portuguese throne following the death of King Sebastian at Alcácer Quibir in 1578 and the subsequent extinction of the Aviz line. The interim governing council — the Governadores do Reino — authorized coinage during this interregnum before Philip's authority was fully consolidated, producing a narrow window of issues struck in the name of no reigning monarch.
Gomes catalogs this as the first type of the Governadores series, making it among the earliest numismatic evidence of that administrative vacuum.