Peça - Maria I and Pedro III Lisboa, Bahia and Rio mints

Maria I and Pedro III ruled jointly following the death of José I in February 1777, but Pedro III — Maria's uncle and husband — held no real political authority and died in 1786, after which Maria ruled alone. The peça, a denomination rooted in the gold currency reforms of João V, was the workhorse of high-value trade between Portugal and its Atlantic colonies during this decade, with Bahia and Rio striking pieces to meet Brazilian commercial demand that Lisbon alone could not satisfy.

The four Gomes varieties correspond to the three active mints — Lisbon, Bahia, and Rio de Janeiro — with Rio producing two distinct issues across the period. Brazilian-mint examples circulated far more heavily in colonial trade than Lisbon pieces, which more often traveled back to Europe as remittances.