| Local Name1: | Escudo português |
| Local Name Lang1: | pt |
| Image 1: | Portugal 25 escudo.JPG |
| Image Title 1: | 25 escudo (1985), obverse |
| Image 2: | Portugal 25 escudo 2.JPG |
| Image Title 2: | 25 escudo (1985), reverse |
| Inflation Rate: | 2.8% (2000) |
| Inflation Source Date: | worldpress.org |
| Iso Code: | PTE |
| Using Countries: | None, previously: |
| Erm Since: | 19 June 1989 |
| Erm Fixed Rate Since: | 31 December 1998 |
| Euro Replace Non Cash: | 1 January 1999 |
| Euro Replace Cash: | 1 January 2002 |
| Erm Fixed Rate: | 200.482 PTE |
| Unit: | Escudo |
| Superunit Ratio 1: | 1000 |
| Subunit Name 1: | centavo |
| Symbol Comment: | (($) is used when double-barred cifrão is not available) |
| Plural: | escudos |
| Plural Subunit 1: | centavos |
| Frequently Used Coins: | 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 |
| Rarely Used Coins: | , 25 |
| Frequently Used Banknotes: | 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 |
| Rarely Used Banknotes: | 100 |
| Issuing Authority: | Banco de Portugal |
| Mint: | Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda |
| Obsolete: | yes |
The Portuguese escudo was the currency of Portugal from 22 May 1911 until the introduction of the euro on 1 January 2002. The escudo was subdivided into 100 Portuguese: [[centavo]]s. The word Portuguese: escudo literally means shield; like other coins with similar names, it depicts the coat of arms of the state.
Amounts in escudos were written as Portuguese: escudos Portuguese: centavos with the Portuguese: [[cifrão]] as the decimal separator (for example: means 25.00 escudos, means 100.50 escudos). Because of the conversion rate of 1,000 Portuguese: réis =, three decimal places were initially used (=).
The currency replaced by the escudo in 1911 was denominated in Portuguese reals (plural: Portuguese: réis) and Portuguese: [[milréis]] worth 1,000 Portuguese: réis. The Portuguese: milréis was equivalent to 2.0539 grams fine gold from 1688 to 1800, and 1.62585 g from 1854 to 1891. Gold Portuguese: escudos worth 1.6 Portuguese: milréis (or 1.600; not to be confused with the 20th-century currency) were issued from 1722 to 1800 in denominations of, 1, 2, 4 and 8 Portuguese: escudos.
The escudo (gold) was again introduced on 22 May 1911, after the 1910 Republican revolution, to replace the real at the rate of 1,000 Portuguese: réis to 1 Portuguese: escudo. The term Portuguese: mil réis (thousand Portuguese: réis) remained a colloquial synonym of Portuguese: escudo up to the 1990s. One million Portuguese: réis was called one Portuguese: conto de réis, or simply one Portuguese: conto. This expression passed on to the escudo, meaning one thousand escudos.
The escudo's value was initially set at 675 = 1 kg of gold. After 1914, the value of the escudo fell, being fixed in 1928 at 108.25 to £1 sterling. This was altered to 110 to £1 stg in 1931. A new rate of 27.50 escudos to the U.S. dollar was established in 1940, changing to 25 in 1940 and 28.75 in 1949.
During World War II, escudos were heavily sought after by Nazi Germany, through Swiss banks, as foreign currency to make purchases to Portugal and other neutral nations.[1]
Inflation throughout the 20th century made centavos essentially worthless by its end, with fractional value coins with values such as 50 centavos and eventually withdrawn from circulation in the 1990s. With the entry of Portugal in the Eurozone, the conversion rate to the euro was set at 200.482 = €1.[2]
The escudo was used in the Portuguese mainland, the Azores and Madeira, with no distinction of coins or banknotes. In Portugal's African colonies, the escudo was generally used up to independence, in the form of Portuguese: [[Banco Nacional Ultramarino]] and Portuguese: [[Banco de Angola]] banknotes (rather than those of the Bank of Portugal used in Portugal proper), with Portuguese and in some cases local coins circulating alongside:
Of the above, only Cape Verde continues to use the escudo.
In Macau, the currency during the colonial period was, as it is today, the Macanese pataca.
Timor-Leste adopted the Portuguese Timorese escudo whilst still a Portuguese colony, having earlier used the Portuguese Timor pataca.
Portuguese India adopted the Portuguese Indian escudo for a brief time between 1958 and 1961 before Goa became a part of India; prior to that, it used the Portuguese Indian rupia.
The mintage period for the various denominations of the gold escudo (worth 1.6 Portuguese: [[milréis]] or 1.600) introduced in 1722 was different: escudo through 1821, 2 escudos through 1789, and 4 escudos through 1799. The eight-escudo coin was only struck between 1722 and 1730.
Between 1912 and 1916, silver 10, 20 and 50 centavos and 1 coins were issued. Bronze 1 and 2 centavos and cupro-nickel 4 centavo coins were issued between 1917 and 1922.
In 1920, bronze 5 centavos and cupro-nickel 10 and 20 centavo coins were introduced, followed, in 1924, by bronze 10 and 20 centavos and aluminium-bronze 50 centavos and 1 coins. Aluminium bronze was replaced with cupro-nickel in 1927.
In 1932, silver coins were introduced for, 5 and 10. The and 5 were minted until 1951, with the 10 minted until 1955 with a reduced silver content. In 1963, cupro-nickel and 5 were introduced, followed by aluminium 10, bronze 20 and 50 centavos and 1 in 1969. Cupro-nickel 10 and 25 were introduced in 1971 and 1977, respectively. In 1986, a new coinage was introduced which circulated until replacement by the euro. It consisted of nickel-brass 1, 5 and 10, cupro-nickel 20 and 50, with bimetallic 100 and 200 introduced in 1989 and 1991.
Coins in circulation at the time of the changeover to the euro were:
Coins ceased to be exchangeable for euros on December 31, 2002.
| Coins of the Portuguese escudo | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Equivalent in euros | Diameter | Weight | Thickness | Material | Obverse | Reverse | Dates of issue |
| 1 | 0.50 cent | 16 mm | 1.69 g | 1.2 mm | Nickel-brass | Coat of arms of Portugal and knot | Stained glass window pattern | 1986-2001 | |
| 5 | 2.49 cents | 21.1 mm | 5.25 g | 2 mm | |||||
| 10 | 4.99 cents | 23.5 mm | 7.5 g | 2.3 mm | |||||
| 20 | 9.98 cents | 26.5 mm | 6.9 g | 1.64 mm | Copper-nickel | Coat of arms of Portugal | Nautical compass and the cross of the Military Order of Christ | ||
| 50 | 24.94 cents | 31 mm | 9.41 g | 1.65 mm | Stylized ship and four fishes below | ||||
| 100 | 49.88 cents | 25.5 mm | 8.3 g | 2.5 mm | Bi-metallic coin (Aluminium-bronze center plug with a Copper-nickel outer ring) | Pedro Nunes
| 1989-2001 | ||
| 200 | 99.76 cents | 28 mm | 9.8 g | 2.2 mm | Bi-metallic coin (Copper-nickel center plug with an Aluminium-bronze outer ring) | Garcia de Orta | 1991-2001 | ||
Another name for the 50 centavos coin was Portuguese: coroa (crown). Long after the 50 centavos coins disappeared, people still called the coins Portuguese: cinco coroas ("five crowns").
Also, people still referred to escudos at the time of the changeover in multiples of the older currency Portuguese: real (plural Portuguese: réis). Many people called the coins Portuguese: dois e quinhentos (two and five-hundreds), referring to the correspondence = 2500 Portuguese: réis. Portuguese: Tostão (plural Portuguese: tostões) is yet another multiple of Portuguese: real, with 1 Portuguese: tostão = 100 Portuguese: réis.
The Portuguese: Casa da Moeda issued notes for 5, 10, and 20 centavos between 1917 and 1925 whilst, between 1913 and 1922, the Portuguese: [[Banco de Portugal]] introduced notes for 50 centavos, 1,, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000. 50 centavos and 1 notes ceased production in 1920, followed by, 5 and 10 in 1925 and 1926. 5,000 notes were introduced in 1942.
The last 20 and 50 notes were printed dated 1978 and 1980, respectively, with 100 notes being replaced by coins in 1989, the same year that the 10,000 note was introduced.
Banknotes in circulation at the time of the changeover to the euro were:
The last series of escudo banknotes could be returned to the central bank Portuguese: [[Banco de Portugal]]|italic=no and converted to euros until 28 February 2022.
Escudo banknotes celebrated notable figures from the history of Portugal. The final banknote series featured the Age of Discovery, with Portuguese: [[João de Barros]]|italic=no, Portuguese: [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]]|italic=no, Portuguese: [[Bartolomeu Dias]]|italic=no, Portuguese: [[Vasco da Gama]]|italic=no, and Henry the Navigator.
The last 100 banknote depicted Portuguese: [[Fernando Pessoa]]|italic=no, the famous Portuguese writer and poet.
| Banknotes of the Portuguese escudo (1995–2002 "Portuguese seafarers & explorers" Issue) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Main color | Obverse | Reverse | Watermark | |
| http://banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countries/EUR/POR/POR0187.htm | 500 | €2.49 | Olive and Violet | Portuguese: [[João de Barros]]|italic=no | Allegory of the Age of Discovery | Portuguese: João de Barros|italic=no |
| http://banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countries/EUR/POR/POR0188.htm | 1,000 | €4.99 | Brown and Purple | Portuguese: [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]]|italic=no | Sailing ship, animals of Brazil | Portuguese: Pedro Álvares Cabral|italic=no |
| http://banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countries/EUR/POR/POR0189.htm | 2,000 | €9.98 | Blue and deep blue-green | Portuguese: [[Bartolomeu Dias]]|italic=no
| Sailing ship, compass card, map | Portuguese: Bartolomeu Dias|italic=no |
| http://banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countries/EUR/POR/POR0190.htm | 5,000 | €24.94 | Green and brown-violet | Portuguese: [[Vasco da Gama]]|italic=no | Sailing ship, Portuguese: Vasco da Gama|italic=no with authorities in Calicut | Portuguese: Vasco de Gama|italic=no |
| http://banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countries/EUR/POR/POR0191.htm | 10,000 | €49.88 | Red and dark brown | Henry the Navigator (Portuguese: Infante Dom Henrique|italic=no|nocat=y) | Sailing ship | Henry the Navigator (Portuguese: Infante Dom Henrique|italic=no) |
Portuguese: Conto was the unofficial multiple of the escudo: 1 Portuguese: conto meant 1,000, 2 Portuguese: contos meant 2,000 and so on. The original expression was Portuguese: conto de réis, which means 'one count of Portuguese: réis' and referred to one million Portuguese: réis. Since the escudo was worth 1,000 Portuguese: réis (the older currency), therefore one Portuguese: conto was the same as a thousand escudos. The expression remained in usage after the advent of the euro, albeit less often, meaning €5, roughly worth 1,000.
Occasionally Portuguese: paus, literally meaning 'sticks', was also used to refer to the escudo ("Portuguese: Tens mil paus?" – 'Do you have 1,000 escudos/sticks?'). During the move from escudos to euros the Portuguese had a joke saying that they had lost three currencies: the Portuguese: escudo, the Portuguese: conto, and the Portuguese: pau.