4 Xerafins São Tomé - José I Damão mint

Damão (Daman) operated as one of Portuguese India's secondary mints, and gold coinage struck there under José I is considerably scarcer than equivalent Goa output — the local goldsmithing infrastructure was less developed and production runs were correspondingly smaller. The xerafim, a denomination rooted in the Arabic *ashrafi*, had been the backbone of Portuguese Indian gold accounting since the sixteenth century, surviving long after comparable denominations had disappeared elsewhere in the empire.

Gomes 61.02 distinguishes this Damão striking from the better-documented Goa issues by mint-specific die characteristics.