indio
The indio was a silver coin minted by the Portuguese government as a currency to support trade with India. There are only two recovered coins of this mintage, making it very rare.
indio
- Field
- silver coin
- Region
- Portugal
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
getty · 500310761 · gnd · 16175896-4 · wikidata · Q25222765
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Country — Portugal • Mass G — 3 • Diameter Mm — 26 • Years Of Minting — 1499–1504 • Reverse Design — Cross of the Military Order of Christ and inscription IИ HOC SIGИO VIИCES
History
History
Following the discovery by Vasco da Gama, King Manuel I of Portugal ordered the indio, as well as the português, to be minted to support trade with India. The indio was minted for less than five years, being discontinued prior to 1504 in favor of the tostão.
Design
Design
According to Damião de Góis, the weight of the coin was ordered to equal the mass of the coins used by Italy, 3 grams. The reverse side bears markings from the Military Order of Christ, which King Manuel had also adopted as his personal insignia.
Examples
Examples
There are only two recovered coins of this type.
Coin 1
Coin 1
The first coin has been held in the National Historical Museum of Brazil, which houses the largest numismatic collection of Latin America.
Coin 2
Coin 2
The second coin was found by the shipwreck hunter David Mearns who was leading the archaeological excavation of the Esmeralda. The Indio was found in a clump of Portuguese silver and gold coins. This recovery of this example, forged in 1499, was announced in 2016 following excavation of the 1503 shipwreck off the coast of Oman, on Al-Hallaniyah island in the Khuriya Muriya island chain. This example was compared to the first using CT scan and authenticated by João Pedro Vieira, Curator of Coins and Paper Money with the Bank of Portugal.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Portugal
Named but not plotted · 1
indio is associated with Portugal.
Country
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 16175896-4, Indio.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q25222765: indio
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Indio (coin), revision 1269215575 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Mearns, David. A Portuguese East Indiaman from the 1502–1503 Fleet of Vasco da Gama off Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman: an interim report. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 45. 2. 331–350. 14 March 2016. 10.1111/1095-9270.12175.
- 2.Sunken treasure from a 500-year-old shipwreck. CBS News. 16 March 2016.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 16175896-4, Indio.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Connections
Knowledge graph
Connections
Each connection was recorded deliberately, with the basis for it kept on the internal record.
Broader subject
1- silver coinTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Coins
642 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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