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20 000 Reis - Pedro IV Overprint on P#15 - John Prince Regent
| Issuer | Real Erário (Royal Treasury), Portugal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1826 |
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| In circulation to | 31 August 1834 |
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| Obverse description | Brown note dated 1826 (over original date 1799), printed on a earlier apólice (bond) of the Real Erário. A row of eight small oval vignettes runs across the upper portion of the note. The text body, hand-completed in manuscript, carries the bearer obligation for Twenty Thousand Réis with interest. A red starburst overprint reading 'D. Pedro IV 1826' with a crowned cipher validates the reissue, applied over the printed signatures of the original 1799 issue. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is otherwise blank but bears multiple oval renewal stamps, each incorporating the Portuguese royal arms surmounted by a crown, applied at successive annual validation dates. The image shows approximately eight to nine such stamps distributed across the surface, with legible dates ranging from Abril 1800 through 1815, along with two manuscript signatures confirming successive renewals of the instrument. |
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| Comments |
When João VI died in March 1826, the succession crisis that followed was immediate and politically explosive. His son Pedro had already declared Brazilian independence as Emperor Pedro I — making him simultaneously heir to the Portuguese throne and sovereign of a former colony. Pedro renounced the Portuguese crown within months, but not before a brief window existed in which his image could be pressed into official use. This note exploits that window: an overprint applied to existing João VI stock, substituting the new king's name without commissioning fresh printing.
The overprint practice was economical but created lasting confusion in cataloguing, as worn examples sometimes show the underlying text bleeding through. P#15 examples with faint or partially struck overprints are the ones most likely to be misattributed.