Portugal's first banknotes were issued in 1797, when the country was facing serious difficulties caused by the Franco-Spanish War. From the Napoleonic invasion in 1807 until 1821, the Portuguese capital was in colonial Brazil.
In the twenties of the 19th century, the war forced Portugal to issue additional banknotes with the red star seal of Pedro IV or Miguel I. Although these early banknotes were badly worn, they were meticulously engraved and became the standard for later banknotes.
Originally issued in 1799 and reissued in 1826, the $12 $800 note was stamped with the red seal of Pedro IV.
The Bank of Portugal was established in 1846 with a Royal Charter, and issued its first banknotes the following year.
With the exception of banknotes issued by some private banks in the seventies of the nineteenth century and change notes issued by the State Treasury between 1917 and 1925, they maintained a monopoly on banknote issuance from 1887 until the introduction of the euro in January 2002. The bank was eventually nationalized in 1974.
In 1910, the unit of currency was changed from 1000 reais (1000 reais, written 1$000) to escudos, with a conversion rate of 1000 reis to 1 escudo, so 1$00 was written to indicate the change in value.
The 1898 $5000 note depicts an allegorical woman.
Although Portugal abandoned the gold standard in 1891, the word "ouro" (*) remained on banknotes until the 80s of the 20th century, when the word "prata" (silver) was still on some lower denomination banknotes.
1910 also saw the end of the Portuguese monarchy, with the deposition of Manuel II and the establishment of the First Republic. Manuel II was exiled and spent the rest of his life in Twickenham, southwest London.
Portuguese banknotes, in particular, from the early 20th century, are considered to be among the most beautiful in Europe, many of which were designed by the famous British printers Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. and Waterrow and his sons.
Gómez Freire was an 18th-century general who was wrongfully executed in deep mourning.
Most of the last Mirez banknotes (1899-1910) were designed and printed in Portugal and were reissued after 1910 with the word "Republica" printed on them, until the introduction of the Escudo banknotes in 1919. These banknotes were produced by Bradbury Wilkinson, although they do not have their imprint.
The 1919 banknote carries a "chapa" (edition) number to identify each design change for each denomination. The 1000 escudo (1000$00) has gone through 13 editions, while the 10,000$00 note may have 2 editions.
The 1961 $1000 note features a portrait of Queen Philip de Lancaster (1360-1415), born in England.
Bank of Portugal banknotes feature portraits of historical figures, including explorers from the 15th century, who were among the first Europeans to establish ** routes and colonies outside of Europe.
Famous generals, poets, and other well-known personalities also occupy important positions. The variety of artistic designs, print quality, and colors and styles also make these notes unique and highly collectible.
The first escudo banknotes in 1913 ranged in denominations from 50 cents (0$50) to 100$00, but inflation soon changed that, and by 1920, 1000$00 banknotes were needed.
This was the highest denomination until 1942, when the 5000$00 note appeared, and then in 1989, the 10000$00 note became the top banknote. When the euro was introduced, the exchange rate was fixed at 200$00 to 1 euro.
In 1909, one of the first historical figures to be chosen was Vasco da Gama, a famous explorer who appeared on the 20$00 note alongside the Portuguese poet Luis da Cammoez.
The 1909 $20 000 note bore the portraits of Vasco da Gama and Luis de Cammoez with the word "Republic" in addition.
On $25.00 is Alfonso de Albuquerque, a 16th-century explorer and military commander who became the first Duke of Goa due to his efforts to establish ** ties with India.
Alfonso de Albuquerque's portrait appears on the 1910 $500 note.
The figure chosen for the 1920 $20 00 note was José Magalhães, a 19th-century journalist and left-wing scholar and parliamentarian, making a special case.
The portrait of José Magalhães was printed on the 1920 $20 00 note.
Portugal is known for a fraud case involving the 1922 Vasco da Gama 500$00 banknote.
The banknotes were printed by the Waterlow Company, and they wanted to replace Bradbury. Inflation requires more and more banknotes to be issued, which is good business for printers.
The problem, however, was a major fraud in 1925-26; However, the crux of the matter is not the counterfeiting of the banknotes themselves, but the forgery of instructions, the instructions to print more banknotes with the same serial number
Vasco da Gama is depicted on the 1922 500$00 note, one of the illegally issued notes.
The printer was scammed and they delivered the banknotes directly to **, one of which was delivered through the luggage storage at Liverpool Street Station in London. Watlow, in his eagerness to win new business, failed to find out who they were dealing with.
The ** gang, led by Arturo Vigilio Alves Reis, put more than 200,000 500$00 notes into circulation, worth about $1 million at the time.
They quickly made a fortune and created their own bank to ** all the banknotes, and also tried to buy control of the Bank of Portugal, which would have allowed them to hide all the evidence of fraud.
But the conspiracy failed, leaving collectors with a highly sought-after banknote and one of the greatest numismatic stories.
The first issue of the $5000 note in 1987 featured a portrait of another famous poet, Antero de Quintal.
A serious problem for banks is how to distinguish between genuine coins issued by them and counterfeit coins with the same serial number that are put into circulation.
In 1967, the $1000 note featured a portrait of Queen Maria II.
A key factor was the tiny version of the letters that Watrow used when it was first printed for **.
But that wasn't enough, Watrow's team spent a few weeks in Lisbon helping the bank sort through all the banknotes exchanged – a total of 209,718 illegal banknotes were exchanged, costing just over £1 million.
This striking portrait is of Pedro Álvarez Cabrral, who is credited with the man who discovered Brazil in 1500.
The scandal had no effect on Waterlow's business, but on the condition that their imprint could not appear on the banknotes. The company was later sued by the Bank of Portugal in the English courts, and he had to bear all the bank's losses. Watlow was taken over by Thomas De La Rue in 1961.
In 1995, when the last edition of the banknote was published, its theme was the 500th anniversary of the Age of Discovery.
The image of Vasco da Gama reappears, but this time the portrait is very different from the traditional one used in 1922. On the back of the banknote, we can see the various ships used by the explorers.
Vasco da Gama's portrait was radically redesigned in the final series released in 1995.
The introduction of the euro was a sad moment for many collectors, as many fine banknotes were out of circulation, not only in Portugal, but throughout Europe.
The 1988 $100 note features a portrait of the great poet Fernando Pessoa.
When we talk about Portuguese banknotes, we cannot fail to mention those equally fine banknotes issued in the colonies, from Brazil to India, Macau, Timor-Leste, and several parts of Africa. These banknotes are all worth collecting, and perhaps in the future they will become a separate theme.
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