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11/4 Meticais - Maria II
| Issuer | Portuguese Colonial Administration (Mozambique) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1835 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Currency | Real (1750-1910) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Irregular rectangular cast gold flan bearing a crowned royal cypher 'M' for Queen Maria II, rendered in relief at center within a beaded oval cartouche. The monogram is boldly incuse-cast, exhibiting the characteristic rough surface texture of a hand-cast piece. The surrounding field is uneven and granular, typical of Mozambique cast gold currency of the period. No additional legend or device appears on this face. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | 1835: ND (1835) |
| Additional information |
The fractional gold meticais issued for Mozambique in 1835 occupy an odd corner of Portuguese colonial monetary history. Lisbon was simultaneously managing a civil war — the Liberal Wars had formally concluded only the year before, with Maria II's absolutist uncle Miguel forced into exile in 1834 — yet the colonial treasury still required functional specie for Indian Ocean trade networks where gold by weight carried real commercial weight.
The metical itself was a unit borrowed from the Arabic mithqal, embedded in East African coastal commerce long before Portuguese administration formalized it into struck coinage.