Portuguese real

The real (, meaning "royal", plural: "réis" or [archaic] "reais") was the unit of currency of Portugal from around 1430 until 1911. It replaced the "dinheiro" at the rate of 1 real = 840 dinheiros and was itself replaced by the "escudo" (as a result of the Republican revolution of 1910) at a rate of 1 escudo = 1000 réis. The "escudo" was further replaced by the euro at a rate of 1 euro = 200.482 "escudos" in 2002.
History.
The first "real" was introduced by King Fernando I around 1380. It was a silver coin and had a value of 120 "dinheiros" (10 "soldos" or "libra"). In the reign of King João I (1385–1433), the "real branco" of "libras" and the "real preto" of 7 "soldos" ( of a "real branco") were issued. By the beginning of the reign of King Duarte I in 1433, the "real branco" (equivalent to 840 "dinheiros") had become the unit of account in Portugal. From the reign of King Manuel I (1495–1521), the name was simplified to "real", coinciding with the switch to minting "real" coins from copper.
In 1837, a decimal system was adopted for the coin denominations, with the first banknotes issued by the "Banco de Portugal" in 1847. In 1854, Portugal adopted a gold standard of 1,000 "réis" = 1.62585 grams fine gold. This standard was maintained until 1891.
Large sums were usually expressed as "mil-réis" (sometimes "milréis") or 1,000 "réis", a term often found in 19th-century Portuguese literature. In figures, a "mil-réis" was written as 1$000, so that 60,000 "réis" would be written as 60$000 or 60 "mil-réis".)
In 1911, the "escudo" replaced the "real" at the rate of 1 "escudo" = 1,000 "réis". One million "réis" (or one thousand "mil-réis", written 1.000$000) was known as a "conto de réis". This term survived the introduction of the "escudo" to mean 1,000 "escudos" and is now used to mean five euros, almost exactly the converted value of 1,000 "escudos" or one million "réis" (1 "conto" is approximately €4.98798).
Coins and banknotes were also issued denominated in "réis" for use in the different parts of the Portuguese Empire. See: Angolan "real", Azorean "real", Brazilian "real", Cape Verde "real", Mozambican "real", Portuguese Guinea "real" and São Tomé and Príncipe "real". Brazil has revived the "real" as the denomination of its present currency.
Coins.
Before the middle of the 19th century, many different denominations were minted, often with values in terms of the "real" which increased over time. For example, the "cruzado" was introduced at a value of 324 "real branco" in the reign of King João II. It was fixed at a value of 400 "réis" during King João III's reign and this remained the value of the silver "cruzado" until the reign of King Pedro II, when it was revalued to 480 "réis". Meanwhile, the gold "cruzado" rose in value to 750 "réis" in the reign of King João IV, then to 875 "réis" in the reign of King Afonso VI before its demise. Two denominations which did not change their values were the "vintém" of 20 "réis" and the "tostão" of 100 "réis".
The last 1 "real" coins (excluding colonial issues) were minted in the 1580s. After this time, the smallest coins were worth "réis". These were minted until around 1750, after which the three "real" coin became the smallest circulating denomination. From the early 18th century, the standard gold coin was the "peça", valued at 6,400 "réis" (7,500 "réis" after 1826).
In the late 18th century and early 19th century, copper coins were issued in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 20 and 40 "réis", with silver 50, 60, 100, 120, 240 and 480 "réis" and gold 480, 800, 1,200, 1,600, 3,200 and 6,400 "réis". Some of these coins showed denominations which were no longer accurate due to earlier revaluations. These included the 240 and 480 "réis" which were inscribed 200 and 400.
In 1837, a decimal system was adopted, with copper coins (bronze from 1882) of 3, 5, 10 and 20 "réis", silver coins for 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 "réis" and gold 1,000, 2,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 "réis". In 1875, the last 3 "real" coins were issued, with cupronickel 50 and 100 "réis" issued in 1900.
Banknotes.
Portugal's first paper money was introduced in 1797 by the government. Denominations issued until 1807 included 1,200, 2,400, 5,000, 6,400, 10,000, 12,000 and 20,000 "réis". Some of these notes were revalidated for continued use during the War of the Two Brothers (1828 to 1834).
From the 1820s, several private banks issued paper money. The most extensive issues were by the "Banco de Lisboa", whose notes were denominated in both "réis" and "moedas", worth 4,800 "réis". This bank issued notes for 1,200 and 2,400 "réis", 1, 4, 10, 20, 50 and 100 "moedas". The "Banco Commercial de Braga", "Banco Commercial do Porto", "Banco de Guimaraes" and "Banco Industrial do Porto" also issued notes, with bearer cheques issued by a number of other banks between 1833 and 1887.
In 1847, the "Banco de Portugal" introduced notes for 10,000 and 20,000 "réis". 5000 "réis" notes were issued from 1883, followed by 50,000 "réis" in 1886. In 1891, the "Casa de Moeda" introduced notes for 50 and 100 "réis", and the "Banco de Portugal" introduced notes for 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,500 "réis", followed by 100,000 "real" notes in 1894.