João V's Brazilian gold coinage underwent a formal redesign in the 1720s and 1730s as the Crown sought to rationalize output from its colonial mints amid the extraordinary flood of Minas Gerais gold. The Rio de Janeiro mint, established in 1703 primarily to convert raw gold into specie, was producing pieces in an environment where supply was the least of anyone's concerns — annual gold remittances to Lisbon from Brazil peaked in this decade at figures that alarmed even Portugal's trading partners.
The "2nd Type" shield distinction matters to specialists: the die modification was not cosmetic but reflected administrative adjustments to coinage standards following the 1727 monetary reform. Bentes 136.01 is among the more tractable varieties to attribute, but originality of surfaces on Rio gold of this period warrants scrutiny given the volume of later cleanings.
João V's Brazilian gold coinage underwent a formal redesign in the 1720s and 1730s as the Crown sought to rationalize output from its colonial mints amid the extraordinary flood of Minas Gerais gold. The Rio de Janeiro mint, established in 1703 primarily to convert raw gold into specie, was producing pieces in an environment where supply was the least of anyone's concerns — annual gold remittances to Lisbon from Brazil peaked in this decade at figures that alarmed even Portugal's trading partners.
The "2nd Type" shield distinction matters to specialists: the die modification was not cosmetic but reflected administrative adjustments to coinage standards following the 1727 monetary reform. Bentes 136.01 is among the more tractable varieties to attribute, but originality of surfaces on Rio gold of this period warrants scrutiny given the volume of later cleanings.