Code PTE Plural escudos | ⁄100 centavo centavo centavos | |
Symbol ($; substituted with ⟨$⟩ when ⟨$⟩ not available) Banknotes 500$, 1,000$, 2,000$, 5,000$, 10,000$ | ||
The escudo ([ʃˈkud], shield; sign $; code: PTE) was the currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999 and its removal from circulation on 28 February 2002. The escudo was subdivided into 100 centavos.
Contents
Amounts in escudos were written as escudos $ centavos with the cifrão as the decimal separator (e.g. 25$00 means $25.00, 100$50 means $100.50). Because of the conversion rate of 1000 réis = $1, three decimal places were initially used ($1 = 1$000).
History
Escudo gold coinage was initially introduced in 1722 with denominations including 1⁄2 escudo, 2, 4, and 8 escudos, and were minted generally during the 18th century.
The escudo (non-gold) was again introduced on 22 May 1911, after the 1910 Republican revolution, to replace the real at the rate of 1,000 réis to 1 escudo. The term mil réis (thousand réis) remained a colloquial synonym of escudo up to the 1990s. One million réis was called one conto de réis, or simply one conto. This expression passed on to the escudo, meaning 1,000$.
The escudo's value was initially set at 675$00 = 1 kg of gold. After 1914, the value of the escudo fell, being fixed in 1928 at 108$25 to the Pound Sterling. This was altered to 110$00 to the Pound Sterling in 1931. A new rate of 27$50 escudos to the U.S. dollar was established in 1940, changing to 25$00 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.
Inflation throughout the 20th century made centavos essentially worthless by its end, with fractional value coins with values such as 0$50 and 2$50 eventually withdrawn from circulation in the 1990s.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 to €1.
Territorial usage
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, with Portuguese and sometime local coins circulating alongside banknotes of the Banco Nacional Ultramarino, rather than those of the Bank of Portugal used on the mainland. For more details, see the escudos of Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea and São Tomé and Príncipe. Only Cape Verde continues to use the escudo. In Macau, the currency during the colonial period was, as it is today, the pataca. Timor-Leste adopted the escudo whilst still a Portuguese colony, having earlier used the pataca. Portuguese India adopted the escudo before it was annexed by India.
Coins
The gold escudo mintage period for each denomination (introduced in 1722) was different: 1⁄2 escudo through 1821, 2 escudos through 1789, and 4 escudos through 1799. The 8 escudo coin was only struck between 1722–30.
Between 1912 and 1916, silver 10, 20 and 50 centavos and 1-escudo coins were issued. Bronze 1 and 2 centavos and cupro-nickel 4 centavos were issued between 1917 and 1922.
In 1920, bronze 5 centavos and cupro-nickel 10 and 20 centavos were introduced, followed, in 1924, by bronze 10 and 20 centavos and aluminium bronze 50 centavos and 1 escudo. Aluminium bronze was replaced with cupro-nickel in 1927.
In 1932, silver coins were introduced for 2 1⁄2, 5 and 10 escudos. The 2 1⁄2 and 5 escudos were minted until 1951, with the 10 escudos minted until 1955 with a reduced silver content. In 1963, cupro-nickel 2 1⁄2 and 5 escudos were introduced, followed by aluminium 10 centavos, bronze 20 and 50 centavos and 1 escudo in 1969. Cupro-nickel 10 and 25 escudos 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 escudos, cupro-nickel 20 and 50 escudos, with bimetallic 100 and 200 escudos introduced in 1989 and 1991.
Coins in circulation at the time of the changeover to the euro were:
Coins ceased to be exchangeable for euro on December 31, 2002.
Another name for the 50 centavos coin was coroa (crown). Long after the 50 centavos coins disappeared, people still called the 2$50 coins cinco coroas (five crowns).
Also, people still referred to escudos at the time of the changeover in multiples of the older currency real (plural réis). Many people called the 2$50 coins dois e quinhentos (two and five-hundreds), referring to the correspondence 2$50 = 2500 reis. Tostão (plural tostões) is yet another multiple of real, with 1 tostão = 10 réis.
Colloquial expressions
Conto was the unofficial multiple of the escudo: 1 conto meant 1,000$00, 2 contos meant 2,000$00 and so on. The original expression was conto de réis, which means "one count of réis" and referred to one million réis. Since the escudo was worth 1,000 réis (the older currency), therefore one 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 escudos.
Occasionally paus, literally meaning "sticks", was also used to refer to the escudo ("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 escudo, the conto, and the pau.