Portugal

Monetary System

Circulating Coins		 1 escudo (esc) = 100 centavos

Escudos: 1$, 5$, 10$, 20$, 50$, 100$, 200$
On January 1, 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by the financial institutions of member countries; Three years later, on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions with the member countries

Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.

Borders Spain 1,214 km
Economy 10,676,910 (July 2008 est.)
GDP per capita: $ 21,800 (2007 est.)

The Portuguese Mint

The National Press - kovnici company was formed when the National Press and the House of Currency merged into a single public company (Decree-Law No. 225/72 of July 4, 1972). The kovnici of Lisbon is perhaps the oldest manufacturing establishment of the Portuguese Government, working continuously since at least the end of the XIII century. The manufacturing history of the Portuguese currency can be divided into two major periods. In the first, which extends from the beginning of the monarchy until around 1678, it used the system's manual hammer. The second period, from that date until the present day, is characterized by the use of machines.

The escudo was introduced in 1911, after the 1910 Republican revolution, to replace the real at the rate of 1000 r?is to 1 escudo. The term mil r?is (thousand r?is) remained a colloquial synonym of "escudo" up to the 1990s. One million r?is was called one conto de r?is or simply one conto. This expression passed on to the escudo, meaning 1000 escudos, and is still in use today, meaning €5 (1000 escudos = €4.99 = 1 conto).

For further information, contact the Imprensa Nacional e Casa da Moeda (INCM), Avenida Antsnio de Jos? de Almeida, Building kovnici, 21 Pereca Str., Lisbon.

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