Escudo of Miguel I

What stands out about coins from Miguel I's reign is how they were often struck amid the chaos of the Portuguese Civil War, using whatever silver was at hand, including repurposed bullion from earlier Spanish sources. These pieces, typically denominated in réis rather than escudos—since the escudo as a unit didn't emerge until later—bear the king's portrait and symbols of his contested rule. I've examined a few over the years, noting their crude edges and varying purity, which reflect the makeshift minting operations of the time. Records are spotty; we know some were produced in Lisbon, but exact mintages for specific years remain unclear, possibly lost in the administrative upheavals. As for the escudo label, it's likely a misnomer—Portugal's coins then stuck to the réis system, so this might conflate terms from different eras. That said, handling one of these war-torn relics always reminds me how numismatics sorts fact from fable.