2000 Réis - José I Smaller Type, Lisbon Mint

José I's reign saw Portugal's mint output shaped almost entirely by the Marquis of Pombal, whose sweeping administrative reforms extended to coinage weights and module sizes. This smaller type was introduced as a deliberate reduction from the earlier, heavier 2000 réis standard — part of a broader rationalization of the gold series that Pombal pushed through in the early 1770s. The timing is inseparable from Portugal's slow financial recovery following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which had devastated the city and strained Crown revenues for nearly two decades.

Production ran only three years before the type was superseded, keeping total output modest by the standards of the José I gold series.