Description
Portuguese Empire, John V ‘o Rei-Sol Português’ of the House of Braganza, King of Portugal 1706-1750 AD, Gold Peça of 6,400 Reis (14.30g, 31mm), 1745, Lisbon mint. Obverse: Laureate head of King John V facing to the right, date below, legend surrounds, “IOANNES. V. D.G. PORT. ET. ALG. REX”. Reverse: Royal Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Portugal (alternative version by João Frederico Ludovice 1744). KM-221; Gomes#J5 127.24. Slight lamination on reverse, a most pleasing piece otherwise, typically bold portraiture and heraldry and near the peak of Australian Proclamation coinage, near Extremely Fine, reverse a bit better.
The Obverse Latin legend reads “Iōannēs quīntus, Deī Grātiā, Portucalis et Algarviae Rēx”, which has an English translation of “John the Fifth, by the Grace of God, King of Portugal and Algarve”.
The gold Peça of the Portuguese Empire, struck to a weight of half an ‘Onça’, which was 28.68 g of 22-karat, and valued at 6,400 Réis, is a coin issued during the Brazilian Gold rush and is often referred to as a ‘Half Johanna’, in reference to the ‘Joannese’ series of coins between 1722-1835 that succeeded the ‘moeda d’ouro’ series (1688–1732). Although a Portuguese coin, due to its recognizability and high degree of circulation, the Dobra had a face value of 1 pound 18 shillings within the Great Britain, and was one of the monetary denominations chosen by the Australian Proclamation of 1800 by Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales. In order to retain coinage within the Australian colony, each ‘Proclamation coin’ was given a high face value – the Half Johanna was revalued to Two Pounds, 2 shillings higher then when used within England.