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2 1/2 Euro Caretos from Trás-os-Montes, Gold
| Issuer | Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda (INCM) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2017 |
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| Value | 2.5 Euros |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Three Caretos figures depicted in high relief at center, each wearing the traditional fringed costume and distinctive stylized mask of the Trás-os-Montes carnival tradition, rendered with ethnographic detail. A fourth partially visible figure appears in the lower left foreground. The curved legend CARETOS TRÁS-OS-MONTES arcs along the upper periphery in raised letters. The mint and engraver signatures INCM – BAIBA ŠIME appear incuse along the lower exergue. |
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| Additional information |
The Caretos are masked figures from the Trás-os-Montes villages of Podence and Lazarim, appearing each February during Entrudo — the pre-Lenten carnival period. The ritual is pre-Christian in origin, likely rooted in Iberian or even older European fertility and apotropaic traditions, though the Church absorbed rather than suppressed it. UNESCO added the Iberian Maskerade traditions, including Podence's Caretos, to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2019.
This piece belongs to INCM's broader "Portugal Património Mundial" commemorative program. The .999 fine specification places it among the purer gold issues in that series.