Português (coin)

[1] Commissioned by King Manuel of Portugal to commemorate the Portuguese Empire and Discoveries, it was first minted shortly before the voyage of Vasco da Gama, who carried some in his expedition to India in 1497.

It was intended as a symbol of prestige and to be used in large commercial transactions rather than everyday use, particularly for the purchase of spices in Asia, and remained in issue throughout the reign of Manuel's son and successor, John III, but it was discontinued in 1555.

[6] The português attained such international prestige, particularly among the rich commercial cities of the Hanseatic League, that many realms and cities in northern Europe started minting their own versions of the coin, henceforth dubbed portugalesers or portugalösers, worth 2,5 to 10 ducats.

Long after they had been discontinued in Portugal, these variants remained in issue in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland or Sweden until the 17th century.

[8] In the Netherlands, the cities of Deventer and Zwolle struck portugalesers between 1640 and 1641 to trade for sugar grown in Dutch Brazil.