79 TURBULENCE At the beginning of 1822, the Bahian Mint had to stop its activities because of the animosity of relations between Portugal and Brazil, demanding the consolidation of its independence. during this period, the Mint began to work in the Reconcavo Basin. After the independence, when it returned to Salvador, the house began to mint coins with the inscriptions Petrus I dei gratia Constitutionalis imperator Et Perpetuus Brasiliae defender (Pedro I, by grace of God, constitutional emperor and perpetual defender of Brazil). TO AFRICA The Brazilian coins have already been to Africa. In 1813, 1815, 1819 and 1822, the Mint of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro minted copper coins for the Portuguese colonies of São Tomé e Príncipe and Mozambique and macutas for Angola. HEAD OR CROWN? Although the monetary standard remained the same, the Brazilian réis can be divided into more than one series. One of the best known was the escudos, minted after 1727. When someone in need to make a decision throws a coin up in the air and shouts: “head or crown (equivalent to heads or tails)?” it is thanks to these gold pieces. They had the figure of King John V on one face - the head – and a crown above a shield on the other. UNITED KINGDOM AND EMPIRE After the transfer of the Portuguese court to Rio de Janeiro in 1808, the Brazilian Mint, which operated in the House of Governors until then, was relocated to the House of Birds, where it operated from 1814 until 1868, period in which some of the most significant coins of numismatics in the period of the United Kingdom and Empire of Brazil were minted. In 1815, when Brazil joined the United Kingdom of Portugal and Algarves, gold, silver and copper coins started to be minted. Despite almost identical to the previous ones, they contained the legends: Joannes. D. G. Port. Bras. Et. Alg. P. Reg., Joannes D. G. Port. Bras. Et. Alg. Princeps Regens or Joannes D. G. Port. Bras. Et. Alg. P. Regens (Dom João, by grace of God, prince regent of Portugal, Brazil, and Algarve). They were the first commemorative coins in the country. THE PIRATINI CONTROVERSY On September 20, 1835 began the conflict that lasted for ten years in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The Revolução Farroupilha (Farroupilha Revolution), or Ragamuffin War, represented the opposition of liberals, ranchers, and representatives of other economic classes to the imperial government and gradually gained a separatist character. the war culminated with the proclamation of the Rio grandense republic, also called republic of Piratini, on September 11, 1836. It was at that time that the controversial Piratini Stamp appeared. in 1838, the republic instituted the Copper Law, with 34 articles, which determined that the coins of that metal should be taken to state tax offices, where, after the coins were weighed, the counterfeit ones were marked in front of the owners. In exchange for the pieces, provisional receipts were issued that determined the amount owed to be later reimbursed. Each copper coin was returned with a quarter of its nominal value, for example a 40 réis coin would be worth 10 réis. Part of the value was deducted from the public treasury and the remainder returned as treasury bills called conhecimentos (acknowledgements). The decree does not clarify whether the coins returned to the owners were stamped, but it is believed that they were,since it was necessary to differentiate them from those collected. Skeptics, in turn, claim that every stamping is illusory, thus, counterfeit. In a 1940 article, German numismatist Kurt Prober claimed to have discovered nine different types of stamp, and among them, he believed those without inscriptions to be real. Specialists accept a type of stamp as authentic: oval, small, with no legend and with two hands clasped together in the grip of a short, curved sword with a beret at its point. the ragamuffin War continued until March 1845, when the Poncho Verde treaty was signed, and the Rio grandense territory was reintegrated to the Empire. With the independence of Brazil, in 1822, one of the first measures of the government was to mint a coin to demonstrate the country’s autonomy. When Dom Pedro I ascended to the throne, the rarest and most precious Piece of Coronation was minted at the House of Birds. There, a series of gold coins of Dom Pedro II was minted, depicting the monarch from his childhood to his elderly years. THE LEGENDS Many phrases have been used in Brazilian coins. In the colonial and imperial periods, they were commonly written in Latin. Some of the most common legends at that time were: Subq. Sign. Nata. Stab. For this sign you shall stand Moderato Splendeat usu Will shine through moderate use Pecunia totum Circumit Orbem Money circulates around the world Aes usibus Aptius Auro Copper is more suitable for use than gold In hoc Signo vinces By this sign you will conquer In republic times, it was common to use phrases to encourage the population to save. It was also the time when legends began to be written in Portuguese. Among the most common were: Economy brings prosperity Order and Progress Spared money, earned money THE CORONATION PIECE Minted for the Coronation Solemnity of Dom Pedro i as Emperor of Brazil, the Coronation Pieces were coins of 6,400 réis bearing the Emperor’s effigy, which were offered to authorities from all over the world who were present at the occasion. the obverse side featured the bare and laureate bust of Dom Pedro I above the engraver’s name - Z. Ferraz. On the exergue, the date – 1822 – between crosses, followed by the mint mark R of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the legend Petrus. I. d. g. Brasiliae. imperator (Pedro I, by grace of God, Brazilian Emperor). The reverse featured the coat- of-arms of the Empire of Brazil. In the upper part of the coin, a gilded royal crown, a shield in a heraldic green field with the Armillary Sphere in the center with blue heraldic representation, crossed by the arms of the cross of the military order of Christ. In a circle, between the arms of the cross, the abbreviated inscription in hoc Sig. vin. (under this sign you will conquer). In circular arrangement, between two lines of concentric circles, 19 five-pointed stars with a silver heraldic representation. Holding up the shield and the crown, two blooming branches of tobacco and coffee tied together with the National tie. Following the rim, a reeded edge. However, the minting of the pieces was