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1 Macuta - Maria I
| Issuer | Angola |
|---|---|
| Year | 1789 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | AFRICA·PORTUGUEZA·1789 MACUTA 1 (Translation: Portuguese Africa) |
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| Additional information |
Angola's copper macuta coinage of the late 18th century was a Portuguese colonial instrument designed explicitly for the West African slave trade economy — these coins circulated primarily as a medium of exchange in the commerce running through Luanda, where they were used to purchase enslaved people for transport to Brazil. The 1789 date places this piece squarely in the reign of Maria I, Portugal's first queen regnant, who suffered a debilitating mental breakdown around 1792 and was eventually declared mad, leaving her son João to govern as regent.
At 36.9 grams of copper in a 44mm planchet, these were struck in Lisbon for colonial export rather than domestic use — a detail the KM#31 reference understates.