Portugal 1 escudo 1957

The coin's story

This 1 escudo coin in nickel silver, an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel, belongs to the series struck from 1927 to 1968. The escudo replaced the real on 22 May 1911, after the proclamation of the Republic, at a rate of 1,000 réis to the escudo. In 1927, nickel silver replaced the aluminium-bronze of the first 1 escudo coins, which had worn badly, and it held up even during the Second World War. The obverse bears the effigy of the Republic designed by the sculptor José Simões de Almeida, whose bust became the official image of the regime as early as 1912, it is signed SIMÕES and REGO GR, for the engraver Domingos Alves do Rego. The 1957 date has 1,656,400 pieces.