X Réis - Pedro V Countermark 'Small Crown' over X reis, Portugal and Brazil

São Tomé and Príncipe suffered chronic coin shortages throughout the nineteenth century, and the colonial administration repeatedly resorted to countermarking existing circulating pieces rather than commissioning new strikes. This 1854 issue involves a small crown punch applied to Portuguese or Brazilian copper X réis, a practice that revalidated foreign copper for local circulation under Portuguese colonial authority. The host coins were already worn before the countermark was applied, which complicates accurate assessment of the underlying piece.