Coinage

The money in circulation in Madeira in the early days of settlement was the same as that used in Portugal, as the letter of 26 September 1433 shows, by which King Duarte granted this island to Prince Henry the Navigator. That letter forbade the prince to have coin minted, and the money of the Kingdom (reino, i.e. mainland Portugal) was to circulate on the island.

Old documents show that the mark of silver (marco de prata, c. 230 g of silver) and the reais were coins circulating in Madeira, and that there were reais of silver and of copper, the former minted by order of John I. These old reais or réis were worth far more than the réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis) that have lasted to our own day, and which even today are often used as the unit for reckoning values.

The charter (foral) of the city of Funchal and of the towns of Ponta do Sol (‘point of the sun’) and Calheta (‘small cove’), dated 6 August 1515, speaks of cruzados (old Portuguese coin worth 400 réis), of réis and of reais. The Timber Regulations (Regimento das Madeiras) of 27 August 1562 and many other documents also refer to the first of these coins, which in the course of time became a nominal money.

The new cruzados were of gold or silver; the old cruzado was of gold and was worth 400 réis. Even today it is the custom in Madeira to call the sum of 40 centavos or 400 réis a cruzado, whatever coins it may be made up of.

The books of the council sessions of 1550 show that riales, half riales and quarter riales were already circulating on the island at that time, the first worth 36, the second 18 and the last 9,5 réis. Nevertheless, even under Philippine rule, it was the réis and cruzados that served as the basis for expressing values.

In 1643 there circulated in Madeira patacas (silver coin, worth about 75–80 réis in the 17th century), half patacas, tostões, half tostões and coins of 120 réis and of 3 and 2 vinténs. However, the document in which we found this information does not tell us whether this money was all Spanish or whether some of it was Portuguese.

A royal letter (carta régia) of 9 February 1664, addressed to the superintendent (provedor) Francisco de Andrade, permitted the minting of gold and silver coin in Madeira. On the 10th of the same month and year the regulations (regimento) were published for establishing a mint on this island, with a superintending judge and such other officers as might be needed. The regulations of 1640 had ordered that the money of the Kingdom should circulate in Madeira, and in 1664 instructions came for the Municipality to appoint a clerk (escrivão) for the Mint and to have patacas and half patacas struck.

On 15 August 1704 the captain-general (capitão-general, military governor of Madeira) Duarte Sodré ordered that the rialetes and half rialetes, which on this island were worth 75 and 37 and a half réis respectively, should henceforth be worth 80 and 40 réis. He also ordered that half patacas and double silver riales (quarter patacas) be accepted, the former at 375 réis and the latter at 187 réis, provided they had the legal weight, which was 7 and a half oitavas per pataca. It was further decided on the same occasion that the patacas called Marias and the half patacas or half Marias should continue to circulate at 600 and 300 réis, the former when they weighed 6 and the latter 3 oitavas.

In 1700 the Governor received a royal letter ordering him to withdraw clipped money, and on that occasion 80,000 cruzados in new coin arrived to remain in Madeira. The value of the pataca of 7 and a half oitavas was then 750 réis.

At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, the coins in use in Madeira were patacas (silver coin, worth about 75–80 réis in the 17th century) and Spanish pesetas and half-pesetas, the first worth 1,000 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis), the second 200 réis and the last 100 réis. In 1819 these same coins were still circulating on the island, according to an English work published in London that year. French copper coins from the time of Louis XVI have been found in the foundations of some 18th-century buildings, which seems to indicate that they circulated in Madeira.

On 27 July 1762 the superintendent of the royal treasury (provedor da fazenda) complained of the difficulty of transferring money to Lisbon, because the currency in circulation was foreign. In 1819 Governor Botelho asked that, so that he should not lose out, the difference in value between Madeiran and mainland money be taken into account when his salary was paid.

English and American money, which circulated on the island for many years, was introduced long after Castilian money had arrived. The Spanish gold coins that circulated in Madeira until 1879 were worth 16,000, 8,000, 4,000 and 2,000 réis, and the silver ones 1,000, 200, 100 and 50 réis.

The American gold coins current in Madeira were the double eagle, the eagle, the half eagle and the quarter eagle, worth 20,000, 10,000, 5,000 and 2,500 réis respectively. The silver coins were the pataca or dollar (1,000 réis), the half dollar (500 réis), the dime (100 réis) and the half dime (50 réis). Gold dollars or patacas also appeared, but this coin was uncommon.

The English gold coins current on the island were the pound sterling or sovereign and the half pound or half sovereign, the first worth 4,800 and the second 2,400 réis. Silver was represented chiefly by half-crowns (600 réis) and shillings (240 réis) and their subdivisions. Before the pound sterling was given its value of 4,800 réis by the decrees of 7 December 1836 and 4 May 1842, it had been worth 4,600 réis under the decree of 10 October 1835.

Besides the coinage we have mentioned, Bolivian, Chilean, Colombian, Argentine and Mexican patacas, all worth 1000 réis, and some other foreign coins were current in Madeira. In 1887 the Funchal Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal) was obliged to refund to some merchants a tax they had paid on importing the foreign money circulating on the island.

Alongside the foreign gold and silver coins that circulated in Madeira for many years, another coinage was in use that had no currency in Portugal. An article by Alberto Artur Sarmento in the now defunct Diario do Commercio states ‘that the first Portuguese coin struck exclusively for the islands is the PECUNIA INSULANA of Joseph I . . . It bears the date 1750 and comes in three copper values: 10, 5 and 3 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis). On the obverse it reads JOSEPHUS I. D. G. PORT. ET ALG. REX; two figures II (Josephus I) in the centre support the crown, the date is split on either side, 17-50, and below is the value X, V or III, according to the coin. On the reverse is PECUNIA INSULANA with the five quinas in the centre, flanked by palm branches and surmounted by the royal crown. The 5-réis coin had two issues, the second in 1751’.

Manuel B. Lopes Fernandes, in the Memoria das moedas correntes em Portugal desde os tempos dos romanos até nossos dias (Memorias da Ac. Real das Sciencias, new series, vol. II, part I), states that the pecunia insulana of Joseph I was intended for the Azores; it is certain, however, that it also circulated in Madeira, even after the pecunia madeirensis (copper coins minted specially for Madeira) appeared here. On p. 85 of vol. I of the Elucidário (article Armas), relying on the opinion of Dr Azevedo (see Saudades, p. 492), we said that the copper coins struck in 1750 show five sugar moulds flanked by canes, also of sugar. According to the same Lopes Fernandes, however, what appears there, as on the coins of 1751, is the quinas between two palm branches. This seems more accurate to us, although the two branches could easily be taken for sugar canes. The coins of the first issue, worth 12,000 cruzados, still show the two sugar canes of the old arms of Funchal, whereas the 19th-century issues show a vine branch instead of the canes.

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Maria II,’ Alberto Sarmento goes on, ‘created the coinage exclusive to Madeira, the PECUNIA MADEIRENSIS, and there are likewise three values: 20, 10 and 5 réis. The obverse reads MARIA II. D. G. PORT. ET ALG. REGINA, with the Portuguese crown in the centre. The reverse bears PECUNIA MADEIRENSIS and the respective value – XX, X or V – bordered by a vine branch. The vintém (coin of 20 réis) had only one issue, in 1842. The 10-réis coin had 3 issues: in 1842, 1850 and 1852. The 5-réis coin was issued in 1850 but never circulated in Madeira, passing from the Mint into the hands of keen collectors, and today it is highly prized.

As regards Madeiran money, it should also be said that in 1919 the Asilo da Mendicidade e Orfãos issued notes of 1 and 2 centavos, and in 1920 of 4 centavos, to make giving change easier, since metal coins had disappeared from the market. These notes circulated only briefly, however, because some traders refused to accept them.

The law of 2 May 1879 ended the circulation of foreign money in Madeira and set a deadline for exchanging the old weak currency for Portuguese coin. The pound sterling was the only foreign coin that remained current, although its value fell from 4,800 to 4,500 réis.

In the summary we have just given of the coins known in Madeira up to the publication of the law of 1879, we have mentioned only the kinds whose existence seemed to us well established. It is likely, however, that in the 15th century ceitis, escudos (Portuguese currency from 1911, = 1,000 réis), espadins and white and black reais circulated here, and that in the following centuries various other coins current in Portugal reached this island, even though the documents we have consulted say nothing on the matter.