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6400 Reis - Pedro IV Overprint on P#12 - John Prince Regent
| Issuer | Real Erário (Royal Treasury), Portugal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1826 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress note on aged paper, with two oval vignettes at top centre each enclosing a facing dog — one beneath a solar motif and one beneath a lunar motif. The denomination and date of original issue appear in manuscript and printed form, with the red crowned overprint reading 'D. PEDRO IV – 1826' applied in a stardust pattern over the underlying P#12 apólice text. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain paper reverse bearing multiple large circular crowned armorial control stamps of the Portuguese Royal Treasury, applied in dark ink at various positions across the surface, together with several period manuscript annotations and ink signatures serving as authentication and validation marks. |
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| Comments |
When Dom João VI died in March 1826, his eldest surviving son Pedro was simultaneously Emperor of Brazil — a constitutional impossibility that forced an immediate succession crisis in Lisbon. Pedro abdicated the Portuguese throne in favour of his daughter Maria within months, but before doing so he issued a constitutional charter and, critically, authorised the overprinting of existing circulating notes. This note is a direct artifact of that four-month reign: the P#12 João stock was on hand, and overprinting was cheaper and faster than commissioning a new issue from scratch.
The overprint practice also meant no interruption to a currency supply already strained by post-Napoleonic fiscal disorder. Pedro IV never set foot in Portugal as its king.