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11/4 Meticais - Maria II Countermarked with a Rosette
| Issuer | Mozambique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1851 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Obverse bears a prominent rosette countermark applied within a raised beaded oval cartouche at the centre of the irregular rectangular gold flan. The rosette, characteristic of the Maria II Mozambique countermark series, is rendered in low relief and displays a multi-petalled floral design. The surrounding field of the flan is plain and irregular, consistent with the cast nature of these gold Meticais pieces. Decorative incuse tooling marks are visible along the bevelled edges of the flan. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Portugal's Mozambican possessions ran chronically short of fractional gold coinage throughout the mid-nineteenth century, and the colonial treasury's solution was to countermark existing Spanish-American and Brazilian gold rather than wait for freshly minted supply from Lisbon. The rosette punch applied here authenticated the piece for local circulation at a revalued tariff rate, a practice the Portuguese crown sanctioned formally in 1851 specifically to address the liquidity problem in the Indian Ocean territories.
The underlying host coin is a Maria II meia-coroa or similar fractional gold of the 1830s–40s Portuguese metropolitan series. Gomes records very few examples with the rosette countermark surviving in collectible condition.