Bonds of the Royal Treasury
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Paper money appeared in Portugal in 1796, during the reign of Queen Maria I. The decline in the exploitation of the gold mines in Brazil and the increase in State expenses led to the appearance of paper money.
Coming out of the War of Roussillon, Portugal faced a severe economic crisis. To solve this problem, Queen Maria signed a decree in 1796, authorising a loan of 10 million cruzados. The Royal Treasury issued the Royal Treasury Bills, which paid interest of 5% to 6% per year. |
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Thus, the Royal Treasury Bills appeared: these are very interesting documents due to the wealth of their drawings, which usually refer to agriculture activities. They are even considered to be real notes because at a certain time they were forced currency. They were worth between 1,200 reis and 20,000 reis. In 1797, the currency was "reis".
