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12 Macutas - Maria I
| Issuer | Angola |
|---|---|
| Year | 1789-1796 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The denomination MACUTAS / 12 is prominently displayed in bold lettering at the centre of the field, enclosed within a wreath of laurel and olive branches tied at the base with a ribbon bow, interspersed with small floral rosette ornaments. The date 1796 appears at the top of the coin above the wreath opening, flanked by decorative star stops. The circular legend AFRICA·PORTUGUEZA·PORTUGAL (Portuguese Africa) runs around the periphery, also punctuated by floral stops, within a reeded border. |
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| Additional information |
Angola's macuta denominations were a colonial accounting fiction made physical — the macuta itself was a unit of account derived from local Central African trade systems, grafted onto Portuguese milled coinage to facilitate commerce in a colony whose interior economy ran on cloth, slaves, and copper manillas. The 12 macuta piece was the heaviest silver denomination in this series, struck at Lisbon for circulation in Portuguese West Africa.
Maria I's reign saw the Pombaline reforms of her father's era partially reversed, but colonial mint policy remained pragmatic. These coins circulated alongside foreign silver and indigenous trade goods well into the nineteenth century.