640 Réis - Maria I and Pedro III Low and High Crowns, Lisbon Mint

Pedro III was Maria I's uncle as well as her husband — a dynastic arrangement common enough in Bourbon and Braganza courts, though it made him king consort rather than king regnant, a distinction the Portuguese crown was careful to maintain. He died in 1786, after which Maria continued issuing coinage in her name alone. The joint coinage spans a narrow window, and the two reference numbers in Bentes reflect the "Low Crown" and "High Crown" varieties, a die distinction visible in the crown punch above one of the portraits — a small detail that has generated outsized collector interest relative to the type's overall availability.