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40 Réis - Maria II Colonial Coinage
| Issuer | Mozambique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1840 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 7.4 g |
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| Obverse description | The Portuguese royal arms displayed on a vertically lined shield, surmounted by an elaborate royal crown, occupy the centre of the field. The shield bears the traditional quinas and castles of the Portuguese coat of arms in their classical arrangement. A circular legend surrounds the device, reading MARIA. II. D. G. PORTUG. ET. ALG. REGINA, affirming the authority of Queen Maria II of Portugal and the Algarves. The coin's rim is defined by a uniform milled border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The denomination numeral '40' appears prominently in large raised characters at the centre of the field, with the date '1840' inscribed immediately below, flanked by two raised dots. The central numerals and date are encircled by an open wreath composed of oak and laurel branches tied at the base with a ribbon bow, with small floral ornaments at the apex. The surrounding legend PECUNIA. TOTUM. CIRCUMIT. ORBEM, a Latin motto meaning 'money travels around the whole world', runs along the full circumference of the coin, separated from the wreath by a milled border. |
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| Additional information |
Maria II's colonial copper issues for Mozambique were struck in Lisbon under a reorganized colonial monetary policy following the Liberal Wars — the civil conflict between Miguelites and Liberals that had paralyzed Portuguese administration through the early 1830s. Once Maria II consolidated power, her government moved to regularize coinage for overseas territories that had been operating with severely degraded and improvised currency for years. Mozambique's copper circulated alongside Indian Ocean trade goods and was frequently melted or countermarked by local traders indifferent to Lisbon's authority.