1/2 Tostão - João VI

The half tostão occupied an awkward position in Portugal's early nineteenth-century monetary system — a legacy denomination struggling to remain relevant as the country lurched through the Peninsular War's aftermath, the flight of the royal court to Brazil in 1807, and João VI's eventual reluctant return to Lisbon in 1821. Coins of this type were struck across that entire period of constitutional turmoil, meaning a single die marriage could theoretically have seen service under radically different political circumstances.

João VI did not formally assume the title of King until 1816, following his mother Maria I's death — which explains the date range's starting point precisely.