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1/2 Vintém - Sebastião I
| Issuer | Portugal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1560-1578 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Vintém = 10 Réis (Reais) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Central field features a floriated cross pattée with fleurs-de-lis terminations at each arm, a design typical of Portuguese silver coinage of the reign of Sebastião I. The cross occupies the majority of the flan, with a beaded or plain inner circle enclosing it. A circular legend bearing the king's name and royal title, SEBASTIANVS I DG, runs around the periphery of the irregularly shaped flan. The die work is bold but shows the characteristic uneven strike of hammered silver small denominations. |
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| Additional information |
Sebastião I came to the throne at age three in 1557, and the regency coinage issued in his name reflects the administrative continuity of a kingdom governed largely by his grandmother Catherine of Austria and later Cardinal Henrique. This half vintém belongs to a reign that ended catastrophically at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578, where Sebastião and a significant portion of the Portuguese nobility were killed or captured in Morocco — a disaster that extinguished the Aviz dynasty and opened Portugal to Spanish annexation two years later.
The resulting dynastic vacuum produced the Iberian Union under Philip II of Spain in 1580, after which Sebastião's coinage types were retired.