200 Escudos Death on the Sea, Gold

This piece belongs to the Portuguese commemorative program marking the 500th anniversary of the maritime discoveries — specifically the series honoring Vasco da Gama's first voyage to India, completed in 1499. "Death on the Sea" refers not to shipwreck but to the staggering mortality from scurvy, dysentery, and exhaustion that claimed roughly half of da Gama's crew on the return leg alone. Of the roughly 170 men who departed Lisbon in 1497, fewer than 55 returned.

The Gomes reference places this among the later strikes in the R 133 subseries, issued in the final year of the quincentenary cycle.