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Tostão 'P-O', shield with 9 or 10 castles- João III 1st type, Porto mint
| Issuer | Kingdom of Portugal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1521-1540 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 9.5 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | + IOHANES : 3 : R : P : ET : A : D : GVINE P-O |
| Reverse description | A large ornate cross pattée occupies the central field, its arms extending nearly to the beaded inner circle. Four six-pointed stars are positioned between the arms of the cross, one in each quadrant. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded border, outside of which the Latin motto legend runs continuously around the coin's periphery in a style consistent with Portuguese royal hammered coinage of the early sixteenth century. |
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| Additional information |
João III inherited a crown stretched thin by the Estado da India — the sprawling Portuguese commercial empire in Asia demanded enormous quantities of bullion for trade, and domestic silver coinage suffered repeated interruptions and weight adjustments throughout his reign. The Porto mint, operating under tighter royal oversight than Lisbon during this period, produced several closely related die variants of this type, which accounts for the range of castle counts documented across Gomes J3 107 through 109.
The castle tally — nine or ten — is a die-cutting inconsistency rather than a policy change, a detail that has fueled collector debate for decades.