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20.000 Reis
| Issuer | Real Erário (Royal Treasury of Portugal) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1798 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Real (1430-1911) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse presents a letterpress-printed apólice (interest-bearing note) on aged paper, with a row of five engraved oval vignettes across the top border, each set within a decorative frame and containing allegorical or architectural figures. The main body carries a manuscript and printed text in period Portuguese, including the issuing place 'LISBOA' and the date '1798', with the denomination '20$000 Rs' printed to the right. A prominent red oval validation stamp of Dom Pedro IV (1826) is applied at centre, and two manuscript signatures appear at the lower portion of the note, accompanied by a partially legible handwritten date. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | LISBOA 1798 20$000 Rs No Real Erario se hade pagar ao Portador desta Apolice de hoica hum Anno Vinte mil Reis Com o Seu Competente juro Lisboa de de Mil Sete Centos noventa D. PEDRO IV 1826 |
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| Comments |
The Real Erário notes of 1798 were issued not by a bank — Portugal had none yet — but directly by the Royal Treasury, making them unusual instruments even by late 18th-century European standards. The Banco de Portugal would not be founded until 1846, so these notes functioned in a legal and institutional vacuum, backed by the Crown's word alone and with no redemption mechanism that the public could readily enforce.
The 20.000 Reis denomination placed this firmly outside everyday commerce. At that value, circulation was almost certainly confined to wholesale merchants, state contractors, and Crown creditors. Most survivors show light handling for that reason.
Pick lists only a handful of confirmed examples of P#30A, and the distinction between the A and B varieties within this series turns on subtle typographical differences in the treasury imprint.