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500 Réis - Pedro V
| Issuer | Portugal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1857-1859 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The crowned Portuguese royal arms, fully mantled, occupy the centre of the field. The shield displays the traditional quintas arrangement of five escutcheons each charged with five bezants, surrounded by the bordure of seven castles. The achievement is supported on either side by elaborate drapery issuing from the royal crown above, which surmounts the entire composition. A decorative scrollwork cartouche appears at the base, below which the denomination legend 500 REIS is inscribed in the lower field. The design is contained within a toothed border. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Pedro V came to the throne in 1853 at age sixteen, and his reign — cut short by typhoid fever in 1861 — produced relatively few coin types before the series was interrupted. The 500 Réis denomination was introduced under a monetary reform that standardized Portuguese silver coinage in the 1850s, bringing the country's metallic currency into closer alignment with the Latin Monetary Union conventions then taking shape across Europe, though Portugal would not formally join that union.
The three-year window of this issue kept mintages modest. Most survivors encountered in trade show honest circulation wear, particularly on the higher relief areas — a consequence of the coin's active use in Lisbon's commerce during a period of significant infrastructure investment under the Regeneração government of Fontes Pereira de Melo.