300 Réis - Maria I

The Azorean 300 Réis series of the 1790s exists because the islands' geographic isolation created chronic coin shortages that mainland Portuguese supplies consistently failed to remedy. Rather than wait, the captaincy-general arranged for locally authorized silver strikes — a practical administrative decision that produced a small, distinct series tied specifically to Azorean commerce rather than metropolitan circulation.

Maria I was in the grip of severe mental illness by the mid-1790s, with her son João effectively managing state affairs by 1792. The coins bear her name regardless.