1/2 Xerafim - João IV Goa mint to Dio

João IV never actually visited India — his entire reign was managed through a succession of viceroys operating out of Goa while the Estado da India hemorrhaged territory to the Dutch. The half xerafim was the workhorse denomination of Portuguese Indian trade, moving between Goa, Diu, and the Persian Gulf ports with enough regularity that die wear on surviving examples is often severe. Diu itself had been under near-constant threat since the Ottoman sieges of 1538 and 1546, and by João IV's reign it functioned more as a fortified trading post than a true colonial city.