Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Macuta - Maria II Countermark 'Crowned Shield' over '1/2 Macuta, José I'
| Issuer | Angola |
|---|---|
| Year | 1837 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse displays the countermark applied during the reign of Maria II: a crowned Portuguese shield, struck onto the reverse of the host coin (the 1/2 Macuta of José I). The crowned shield countermark appears prominently in the central field, with the royal crown above the armillary sphere and castle-quartered shield of Portugal. The host coin's reverse legend, reading '·AFRICA·PORTUGUEZA·' and the date '1763' within a beaded inner circle, remains partially visible around the countermark. The denomination 'MACUTA 1/2' is also legible on the host coin's surface. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse corresponds to the original obverse of the host 1/2 Macuta struck under King José I. The central design features the crowned Portuguese royal arms — a large quartered shield bearing castles and escutcheons, surmounted by a royal crown — set within a plain field. The surrounding legend reads 'JOSEPHUS.I.D.G REX.P.ET.D.GUINE', identifying José I by the grace of God as King of Portugal and of Guinea, distributed around the periphery with the rim showing a reeded or toothed border consistent with colonial copper coinage of the period. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
In 1837, Portuguese colonial authorities in Angola counterstamped existing José I half-macuta pieces — some of them already sixty or more years in circulation — to double their face value and relieve a chronic shortage of small change. The revaluation was an administrative necessity, not a reform; the colony lacked the infrastructure to mint fresh coinage locally, and shipping new copper from Lisbon was slow and expensive.
The two known counterstamp varieties distinguished by Gomes reflect differences in the crowned shield punch, suggesting the operation was carried out in stages or with replacement dies.