Portuguese real
Portugal’s unit of account from the reign of Duarte until the escudo replaced it in 1911 at 1,000 réis to one escudo.
- Use in Portugal
- Attested by 1435; replaced in 1911
- Where
- Portugal; transplanted to Brazil
- Successor conversion
- 1 escudo = 1,000 réis · May 22, 1911
- Ancestry branch
- Roman solidus
Its place in the family
All ancestors and descendants ↗Portuguese real
This currencyTrace its ancestry backward
Portuguese real
Portuguese dinheiro–soldo–libra accounting
Frankish denier–livre
Roman solidus–nomisma
Roman as–denarius accounting
Earlier ancestry is not established here.
The story
Under Duarte, Portuguese state accounts shifted from the libra to the real around 1435–1436. This was a practical change in accounting; no single formal replacement ordinance is known. Earlier real coins do not, by themselves, date the start of the real as the principal unit of account. [1] [2] [3]
Portuguese accounting travelled to Brazil, where réis became embedded in local monetary arrangements and debts. Seventeenth-century devaluation and provincial reforms document the differentiation of the Brazilian branch. [4]
On May 22, 1911, Portugal established the escudo at 1,000 réis to one escudo. The change replaced the principal account unit and gives the real a documented successor. [5]
Turning points
Sources and evidence
- Banco de Portugal · Boletim Notas e Moedas, October 2010
- Pedro Puntoni · Da libra ao real: sobre a formação do sistema monetário português (1185–1580), Revista de História178 (2019), DOI10.11606/issn.2316-9141.rh.2019.141351
- Pedro Puntoni · Da libra ao real: sobre a formação do sistema monetário português (1185–1580), Revista de História178 (2019), DOI10.11606/issn.2316-9141.rh.2019.141351
- Fernando Carlos G. de Cerqueira Lima · Uma análise crítica da literatura sobre a oferta e a circulação de moeda metálica no Brasil nos séculos XVI e XVII, Estudos Econômicos 35(1),169–201 (2005); Fernando Carlos Greenhalgh de Cerqueira Lima · A Lei de cunhagem de 4 de agosto de 1688 e a emissão de moeda provincial no Brasil (1695–1702), Revista de Economia Contemporânea 9(2), 2005; Fernando Carlos G. de C. Lima · Um conto de réis: a proclamação da moeda do império português em Malaca, RBEMF IE-UFRJ3(1),2025
- Banco de Portugal · Boletim Notas e Moedas, October 2010
- Fernando Carlos G. de Cerqueira Lima · Uma análise crítica da literatura sobre a oferta e a circulação de moeda metálica no Brasil nos séculos XVI e XVII, Estudos Econômicos 35(1),169–201 (2005); Fernando Carlos G. de C. Lima · Um conto de réis: a proclamação da moeda do império português em Malaca, RBEMF IE-UFRJ3(1),2025
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“Portuguese real.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Updated 2026-10-14; data version v49. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/FTM000053.html