Get Real!
The coins of Brazil
This month the theme for the meeting was the coins of South America. Judging by the response it is not a popular theme for collectors. I am not sure why not. the modern coins of the continent are have an interesting history reflecting the social and political history of the various countries that make up that area. Perhaps South America feels a bit too far away. we did however have tropical weather on the day.
here is something about Brazil.
Following the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, Brazil was
claimed for the Portuguese Empire on 22 April 1500. The then largest colony in
the world relied on sugar cane and slavery. The first coins were Portuguese
followed by Spanish. Coins were counterstamped in 1643 with local
denominations.
By the end of the 17th century, sugarcane exports began to
decline but the discovery of gold and the Brazilian Gold Rush attracted
thousands of new settlers to Brazil from Portugal. Brazil became a major
producer of coins. The earliest colonial copper coinage was minted in Portugal
in 1693.
In late 1807, Spanish and Napoleonic forces threatened the
security of Portugal, causing Prince Regent João, in the name of Queen Maria I,
to move the royal court from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro.
With the end of the Peninsular War in 1814 Queen Maria I
and Prince Regent João were pressed to return to Portugal. In 1815, to justify
continuing to live in Brazil, where the royal court had thrived for six years,
the Crown established the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.
Coins especially copper ones were frequently counterstamped
in the early Nineteenth Century.
The Brazilians declared the country's independence from
Portugal on 7 September 1822. A month later, Prince Pedro was declared the
first Emperor of Brazil, with the title of Dom Pedro I, resulting in the
foundation of the Empire of Brazil. Portugal recognized Brazil on 29 August
1825.
On 15 November 1889, the monarchy was overthrown by a military
coup. A few days later, the national flag was replaced with a new design that
included the national motto "Ordem e Progresso". The country was
known as the United States of Brazil.
In half of the first 100 years of republic, the Army ruled
directly or through intermediaries. There was another period of counterstamping in
the 1930s.
Civilians returned to power in 1985
In the fiercely disputed 2018 elections, the controversial
conservative candidate Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party was elected
president. In the early 2020s, Brazil became one of the hardest hit countries
during the COVID-19 pandemic, receiving the second-highest death toll worldwide
after the United States. Experts have largely blamed the situation on the
leadership of President Bolsonaro, who throughout the pandemic has repeatedly
downplayed the threat of COVID-19 and dissuaded states and cities from enforcing
quarantine measures, prioritising the nation's economy.
