1000 Réis - Maria I Rio de Janeiro Mint

Maria I assumed the Portuguese throne in 1775 following the death of her father José I, but Brazilian colonial mints were slow to transition away of the preceding Josephine coinage types. The Rio de Janeiro mint — operating under chronic supervision problems throughout the 1780s — produced this issue during the early years of her reign, a period when colonial gold output from Minas Gerais was already in structural decline. Brazilian gold production had peaked around 1750 and was falling sharply by the time this piece was struck.

The Bentes reference remains the authoritative catalog for Portuguese colonial Brazilian coinage, and the 287 listing for this type reflects relatively limited documented survivors from the Rio facility compared to the Bahia mint's output for the same period.