Brazil's colonial copper coinage in 1811 was still operating under the Portuguese monetary system, and pattern strikes of this period were produced to test designs or compositions before committing to full production runs — most never advanced to circulation. The KM#Pn16 designation places this among a small cluster of experimental pieces from João VI's regency period, when the Portuguese court had relocated to Rio de Janeiro following Napoleon's invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1807.
Few examples are documented in major collections, and attribution between genuine patterns and later restrikes can be contested.
Brazil's colonial copper coinage in 1811 was still operating under the Portuguese monetary system, and pattern strikes of this period were produced to test designs or compositions before committing to full production runs — most never advanced to circulation. The KM#Pn16 designation places this among a small cluster of experimental pieces from João VI's regency period, when the Portuguese court had relocated to Rio de Janeiro following Napoleon's invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1807.
Few examples are documented in major collections, and attribution between genuine patterns and later restrikes can be contested.