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4 Xerafins São Tomé - José I Goa mint
| Issuer | Portuguese India |
|---|---|
| Year | 1765-1774 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | The obverse displays the royal arms of Portugal within a crowned shield, rendered in the characteristic cob-style hammered technique of the Goa mint. The shield shows the Portuguese escutcheon with castles and quinas (bezants), surmounted by a royal crown. The striking is slightly irregular, typical of hand-hammered gold coinage of this period and denomination. The field is flat and unadorned beyond the central device. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The xerafim was a unit of account peculiar to Portuguese India, its name derived from the Arabic *ashrafi*, and the four-xerafim gold piece occupied the upper register of a coinage system that had to function across Goan trade networks dealing in everything from pepper to textile credits. José I's reign coincided with the dominance of the Marquis of Pombal, whose sweeping colonial monetary reforms in the 1760s directly prompted reissues and restruck denominations across Portuguese overseas mints — Goa included.
The Goa mint operated with considerable autonomy, and die workmanship on this type is notoriously uneven across the production window.