100 Reis of Pedro I

Pedro I's 100 Reis coin, if it indeed exists as a gold piece, likely served as a subtle nod to his dual crowns, minted amid the tangled politics of Portugal's brief alliance with Brazil in the 1820s.

That said, records from the era are murky; what we call the 100 Reis was usually struck in billon or copper, not gold, raising questions about whether this variant was ever produced or if it's a collector's myth born from melted-down foreign imports. We know Pedro's Portuguese mints were busy recycling metals from older coins, possibly including Spanish reales, to fund his abdication and Brazil's independence struggles.

One theory holds that a few gold examples might have been experimental strikes, but without solid documentation—they burned in the 1838 Lisbon fire—it's hard to say for sure. The design, if authentic, features a simple bust and coat of arms, stripped of the usual flourishes.

Portuguese numismatics can be a headache like that.