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2.400 Reis
| Issuer | Real Erário (Royal Treasury of Portugal) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1807 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is divided into three oval vignettes across the upper register: a blank cartouche at left, a central allegorical figure standing beside a lion with a spear and shield, and the Portuguese royal arms at right dated 1807. Elaborate foliate and guilloche ornamental borders frame the entire note, with the denomination "Rs. 2$400" and the inscription "Apólice do Real Erário" in letterpress below the vignettes. Two manuscript signatures appear at the foot of the note. |
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| Obverse lettering | Lisboa Rs. 2$400 Apólice do Real Erário do valor de dois mil e quatrocentos reis e não tem vencimento de juro na conformidade do Decreto de 31 de Outubro de 1807 Lisboa |
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| Comments |
The Real Erário — Portugal's Royal Treasury — issued this note in 1807, the same year Napoleon's forces were advancing toward Lisbon and the Bragança court was preparing its extraordinary flight to Brazil. Whether notes from this series actually circulated before the royal family departed in November 1807 remains genuinely unclear; the evacuation was chaotic, and much of the Treasury's operation was disrupted in the process.
The 2,400 réis denomination corresponds to roughly one cruzado novo in the old accounting, a denomination meaningful to merchants rather than common laborers. Cotton substrate was the standard choice for Portuguese domestic issues of this period, printed in-house rather than contracted abroad.
Pick 19 is scarce, almost certainly because surviving notes from this brief window of Royal Treasury operation were largely withdrawn or lost during the Peninsular War years that followed immediately after.