2000 Reais - António I Countermark 'Açor', over 1000 Reais, Angra

António I, Prior of Crato, seized the Portuguese throne in 1580 following the death of Cardinal Henry, but held Lisbon for barely a month before Philip II of Spain's forces under the Duke of Alba crushed his claim at Alcântara. He retreated to the Azores, where Terceira island — governed from Angra — remained the last territory to hold out against Spanish annexation, refusing submission until 1583. It was there, in increasingly desperate straits, that António authorized the countermarking of existing gold to create emergency coinage adequate for paying troops and maintaining a court-in-exile.

The Açor countermark — named for the goshawk symbol of the Azores — authenticates this piece as issued under that rump administration. Spanish forces finally took Terceira in August 1583, ending António's last territorial foothold.