D. Maria II (1834–1853)
Bronze
Portugal, Terceira Island, 1829
MAH.R.2007.0102
The scarcity of coinage and the siege imposed by the fleet of D. Miguel I on Terceira Island, while he controlled the rest of the kingdom with the assistance of English ships during the late 1820s, led the resilient people of Terceira to decide on the casting of an eighty-reis coin at a mint established within the Fortress of São João Batista. The design of this numismatic issue departs from the usual Portuguese coinage and closely resembles the 80-reis coin of the newly independent Empire of Brazil. Other coins were produced at the time for values of 40 and 50 reis, but it was these 80 reis, nicknamed “malucos”, that went down in history as the only cast coinage in the Azores. Bell bronze and silver deemed unnecessary in churches were all melted together to produce this unusual coin, of which no two are alike. It became the first coin to proclaim D. Maria II as queen. Counterfeiting and poorly controlled production were common, highlighted by the case of someone who commissioned high-quality, serrated coins in Birmingham. These can be distinguished, for example, by the markedly oval shape of the shield, which required concealed work upon arrival to file down the exaggerated “perfections”, so rustic was the local coinage.
Text | Francisco Maduro-Dias, in “As Faces da Moeda”, MAH 2011
