Portuguese real
The real (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁɨˈaɫ], meaning "royal", plural: réis or [archaic] reais) was the unit of currency of Portugal from around 1430 until 1911. It replaced the dinheiro at the rate of 1 real = 840 dinheiros and was itself replaced by the escudo (as a result of the Republican revolution of 1910) at a rate of 1 escudo = 1000 réis. The escudo was further replaced by the euro at a rate of 1 euro = 200.482 escudos in 2002.
History
The first real was introduced by Ferdinand I around 1380. It was a silver coin and had a value of 120 dinheiros (10 soldos or ½ libra). In the reign of King João I (1385–1433), the real branco of 3½ libras and the real preto of 7 soldos (one tenth of a real branco) were issued. By the beginning of the reign of King Duarte I in 1433, the real branco (equivalent to 840 dinheiros) had become the unit of account in Portugal. From the reign of Manuel I (1495–1521), the name was simplified to "real", coinciding with the switch to minting real coins from copper.