Cruzado '8 castles' - João III 3rd type, Lisboa

João III introduced this cruzado type in the mid-1530s against a backdrop of enormous pressure on the royal treasury — the Estado da India was hemorrhaging money, spice revenues were declining as Ottoman interdiction of eastern trade routes intensified, and the king was simultaneously funding both the Inquisition's establishment in Portugal and a string of North African garrisons. The high fineness of .9426 was not generosity; it was diplomatic necessity, as Portuguese gold needed to pass muster in Antwerp and the Levantine markets where it settled trade obligations.

Three Gomes references covering a span of two years suggests meaningful die variation within what appears to be a single monetary type — likely punch or legend differences rather than weight standard changes.