Great Britain, coin weight, Portuguese 1/4 moidore (value six shillings and nine pence), by Callingwood Ward, Birmingham, ca. 1700-1800 AD.,
Æ Coin-weight (15-16 mm / 2,60 g),
Obv.: G (crown) R / SIX & / NINE / PENCE / (flower or crescent?) , .
Rev.: S D / 6 (flower) 9 / crown / C W , .
.
A copper alloy coin-weight used for checking the Portuguese gold 1000 Reis or Quarter Moidore*, which circulated widely in England during the 18th century. This coin circulated at a value of six shillings and nine pence and is shown in numerals on both sides of the weight.
In the last decade of the 17th century, tremendous gold deposits were found in southeastern Brazil. By the mid 18th century, production from these and other Brazilian gold fields was such that the annual yield was equal to all the gold mined in all the Spanish American colonies put together. In fact, the total gold production for Brazil during the 18th century is estimated at as much as two million pounds. The wealth of the Brazilian deposits propelled Portugal's standard gold coin, and its identical Brazilian counterpart, to the forefront of international commerce.
Since the 1660s the primary gold denomination was the 4,000 Reis coin. Popularly known as "moidores," the name was actually a corruption of the Portuguese "moeda da ouro," or simply "money of ore." (From the Portuguese ’moeda de ouro’ - simply ’money of gold’ or ’gold coin’). This coin was the same basic type as their old cruzado, but larger and heavier. After 1700 there was a great upswing in the minting of the moeda da ouro and it became the most commonly traded gold coin in the New World. In Europe, it competed on equal terms with the English Guinea and French Louis d'Or. The coin's omnipresence gave force to the motto that accompanied the cross emblem on the coin's reverse. Dating from the reign of Constantine the Great (307-337 AD), the motto states: "By this sign thou shalt conquer.".
Portuguese gold was current in England.
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