3200 Réis - José I Bahia and Rio de Janeiro Mints

José I's reign coincided with the near-total reconstruction of Portuguese colonial monetary policy following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which devastated the Mint and forced administrative reorganization across the empire. Brazilian gold production — then at its historical peak in Minas Gerais — meant that Bahia and Rio de Janeiro were minting at capacity throughout this period, yet the two facilities produced subtly different die characteristics that Bentes documented across twenty-one distinct varieties.

The Rio mint (Bentes 181 series) typically shows crisper letter spacing in the legend owing to different puncheon sets sourced after mid-century retooling. Bahia examples from the early 1750s are notably more variable in strike depth.