Portugal (1495-1521) cruzado Fr-21
This specimen was lot 6170 in Künker sale 336 (Osnabrück, Germany, March 2020), where it sold for €750 (about US$982 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"PORTUGAL, KÖNIGREICH, Manuel I. 1495-1521. Cruzado o. J. Lissabon. GOLD. Henkelspur, sehr schön. (kingdom of Portugal, Manuel I, 1495-1521, undated cruzado, Lisbon mint. Mount mark, very fine.)"
This is the most available gold coin of this ruler. Wikipedia comments,
"Manuel established the Casa da Índia, a royal institution that managed Portugal's monopolies and its imperial expansion. He financed numerous famed Portuguese navigators, including Pedro Álvares Cabral (who discovered Brazil), Afonso de Albuquerque (who established Portuguese hegemony in the Indian Ocean), among numerous others. The income from Portuguese trade monopolies and colonized lands made Manuel the wealthiest monarch in Europe, allowing him to be one of the great patrons of the Portuguese Renaissance, which produced many significant artistic and literary achievements. Manuel patronized numerous Portuguese intellectuals, including playwright Gil Vicente (called the father of Portuguese and Spanish theatre). The Manueline style, considered Portugal's national architecture, is named for the king."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, this specimen 3.46 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-21; Gomes E1 63.02.
- Alberto Gomes and Francisco Antonio Magro, Moedas Portuguesas e do Território Que Hoje é Portugal: Catálogo das Moedas Cunhadas para o Continentes e Ilhas Adjacentes, para os Territórios do Ultramar e Grão-Mestres Portugueses da Ordem de Malta, 6ª Edição, Lisbon: Associação Numismática de Portugal, 2013.
- Sáez Salgado, Javier, Moedas de Ouro de Portugal, 1185-1889, Lisbon, Numisma Leiloes, 2001.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 336: Gold coins from all over the World|German Coins after 1871. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2020.
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