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150 Réis - Alfonso VI Countermarked 2 Reales
| Issuer | Portuguese Crown |
|---|---|
| Year | 1663 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 6.77 g |
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| Obverse description | Obverse of the host coin, a Spanish colonial hammered silver 2 Reales (macuquina), struck on an irregular flan typical of cob coinage. The field displays the quartered arms of Castile and León at centre, with the partial remains of a surrounding Latin legend visible along the irregular periphery. The design is characterised by the crude, bold style inherent to colonial hammered coinage, with flat and uneven strike surfaces. The entire surface bears the characteristic texture and wear associated with circulated cob coinage of the mid-17th century. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Portugal's chronic silver shortage in the early 1660s prompted the Crown to countermark circulating Spanish colonial two-reales rather than mint new domestic coinage outright. The 1663 program, carried out under Afonso VI during the ongoing Restoration War against Spain, applied a crowned countermark to these foreign pieces to legitimize them at 150 réis — a pragmatic solution that also, pointedly, reclaimed Spanish silver as Portuguese currency at a moment when the two crowns were still actively at war.