Portugal 5 escudos 1977 - 100th anniversary of the death of Alexandre Herculano (Proof)

The coin's story

This cupronickel 5 escudos coin commemorates the centenary of the death of Alexandre Herculano (1810-1877), writer, historian and poet. A liberal, he went into exile in England and France after taking part in a failed revolt against the reign of Miguel I. He was among those who introduced Romanticism to Portugal, where he acclimatised the historical novel with Eurico, o Presbítero (1844). His História de Portugal, whose first volume appeared in 1846, is based on the original manuscripts and challenges legends such as that of the Battle of Ourique. The series has three coins, of 2.50, 5 and 25 escudos, engraved by Marcelino Norte de Almeida, mirror-field (“proof-like”) examples were sold in a set of the three coins. Numista gives 5,990,000 pieces for circulation and 10,000 in proof.