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Lxxx Réis '4 Vintens' - João IV Porto
| Issuer | Portugal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1643-1656 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A plain cross pattée divides the field into four quadrants, each containing the letter 'P' (the mintmark for Porto), arranged symmetrically around the cross. The design is enclosed within a beaded inner circle, outside of which runs the Latin legend 'IN HOC SIGNO VINCES' ('In this sign you shall conquer'), the Constantinian motto adopted on Portuguese royal coinage. The strike is characteristic of hand-hammered technique, with slight weakness and irregularity at the flan edges. The four 'P' letters serve both as mint identification and a decorative quartering motif. |
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| Additional information |
João IV's accession in 1640 ended sixty years of Iberian Union, and Portugal's mints scrambled to produce a distinctly Portuguese coinage almost immediately. The Porto mint's output of this denomination was critical to re-establishing a functioning domestic silver circulation after decades in which Spanish currency had dominated. Porto struck alongside Lisbon throughout this period, and pieces from the two mints are distinguished by mint mark rather than any meaningful typological difference.
The "4 Vintens" designation reflects the coin's valuation in the older vinténs accounting system — eighty réis equaling four vintens of twenty réis each — a dual nomenclature that persisted in popular use long after official documentation standardized on the réis figure.