500 Réis 1st. print

The 500 Réis of 1891 arrived during one of Portugal's most acute financial crises — the country had effectively defaulted on its foreign debt that same year, a collapse triggered by overleveraged railway speculation and a catastrophic drop in Brazilian remittances. Banco de Portugal was under severe pressure to expand note circulation precisely when public confidence in paper was at its lowest.

The "1st. print" designation matters here because subsequent printings show measurable differences in ink density and plate wear. First-print examples are the reference point for authentication against later states.