Sebastião I inherited the Portuguese throne at age three following the death of his grandfather João III, and his twenty-year reign was defined almost entirely by his obsession with a crusade against the Moors of North Africa. The vintém issues struck under his name financed a kingdom increasingly drained by that ambition — one that ended catastrophically at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578, where Sebastião himself died without an heir, triggering a succession crisis that delivered the Portuguese crown to Philip II of Spain two years later.
The 'S' mintmark identifies Setúbal as the striking facility.
Sebastião I inherited the Portuguese throne at age three following the death of his grandfather João III, and his twenty-year reign was defined almost entirely by his obsession with a crusade against the Moors of North Africa. The vintém issues struck under his name financed a kingdom increasingly drained by that ambition — one that ended catastrophically at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578, where Sebastião himself died without an heir, triggering a succession crisis that delivered the Portuguese crown to Philip II of Spain two years later.
The 'S' mintmark identifies Setúbal as the striking facility.