Brazil, 20,000 Reis

Date1724 (with 1847 counterstamp)

Mint Minas Gerais

OriginSouth America, Brazil, Minas Gerais

MediumGold

DimensionsDiameter: 38 mm

Credit LineGift of the Lasser Family

Object number2000-145,7

DescriptionCoin, 20,000 Reis, Minas Gerais, John V. 1724 with Portugese counterstamp of 1847 raising value to 30,000 Reis.
Label TextWorth 20,000 reis, this Brazilian gold coin contains more than an ounce and a half of pure gold. As the most valuable circulating coin during the period, one of these would have paid four months' salary of a journeyman artisan in Virginia right before the Revolutionary War.

This example received a Portuguese counterstamp in 1847, effectively raising its value by 50% to 30,000 reis.
ProvenanceJoseph R. Lasser Collection. Coin Galleries, 5/25/1995.

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