Portugal 20 réis 1883 - Portrait of Luís I

The coin's story

This bronze 20 réis coin was struck under Louis I (Luís I), thirty-second King of Portugal, who reigned from 1861 to 1889. He came to the throne in October 1861, on the death of his brother Peter V. A highly cultured man, he translated several of Shakespeare's plays into Portuguese, including Hamlet (1877), The Merchant of Venice (1879), Richard III (1880) and Othello (1885). The type, engraved by Frederico Augusto de Campos, was struck from 1882 to 1886 at the Lisbon Mint, in the decimal real system in force from 1835 to 1910. For 1883, Numista gives no separate mintage: it is included in that of 1882.