Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 5, 2026

Escudo

The escudo is a unit of currency which is used in Cape Verde, and which has been used by Portugal, Spain and their colonies. The original coin was worth 16 silver reais. The Cape Verdean escudo is, and the Portuguese escudo was, subdivided into 100 centavos. Its symbol is the Cifrão, a letter S with two vertical bars superimposed used between the units and the subdivision.

Last revised
Jul 5, 2026
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1 Indian Escudo (1959)
First side of the image: Obverse: Lettering "ESTADO·DA·INDIA" [transl. State of India], face value with the Coat of arms of Portugal in the center.
Second side of the image: Reverse: Lettering "REPÚBLICA · PORTUGUESA" [transl. Portuguese Republic], with the year and the Coat of arms of Portugal in the center.
Juana and Charles I. 1504–1555. AV Escudo (24 mm, 3.38 g, 9 h). Seville mint. source ↗
Portuguese coin of 1 escudo, 1987 source ↗

The escudo (Portuguese: 'shield') is a unit of currency which is used in Cape Verde, and which has been used by Portugal, Spain and their colonies.1 The original coin was worth 16 silver reais. The Cape Verdean escudo is, and the Portuguese escudo was, subdivided into 100 centavos. Its symbol is the Cifrão, a letter S with two vertical bars superimposed used between the units and the subdivision (for example, 25Dollar sign with two vertical lines50).

In Spain and its colonies, the escudo refers to a gold coin worth sixteen reales de plata or forty reales de vellón.

Currencies named "escudo"

Circulating

Obsolete

References

References

  1. "World escudo coins on Colnect coin catalog". Colnect. Retrieved 22 June 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)