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10 000 Reis - Miguel I Overprint on P#5 - John Prince Regent
| Issuer | Real Erário (Royal Treasury of Portugal) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1828 |
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| In circulation to | 31 August 1834 |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress print on cream paper. Upper left vignette shows a winged cherub approaching a stylized beehive; upper right vignette shows a cherub accompanied by a dog, with a pastoral scene and castle in the background. A red overprint in starburst form bears the crowned legend 'D. Miguel I - 1828', applied over the original P#5 apólice design. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain paper reverse bearing numerous circular official validation stamps of varying sizes, applied in brown ink over multiple periods, each stamp incorporating a crowned royal arms vignette with month and year notations visible (including references to 1800, 1810, 1812, and other dates). Two cursive manuscript signatures in brown ink appear at left and lower right, consistent with treasury officer endorsements accumulated over the note's circulation life. |
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| Comments |
When Dom Miguel seized the Portuguese throne in 1828 and declared himself absolute king, the existing paper currency posed an immediate legitimacy problem. Notes bearing the image and authority of his constitutional rival João VI — and the regency apparatus that followed — could not simply remain in circulation unchanged. The solution was a hand-applied overprint, converting earlier João VI-era stock into instruments of Miguelist authority without the expense of entirely new printing.
This particular overprint on P#5 stock makes the political calculation visible in the paper itself. Surviving examples are scarcer than the base note, partly because hoarding and destruction accompanied the instability of the Liberal Wars that soon followed Miguel's accession.