Portuguese currency: description, brief history and exchange rate

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Portugal is a country with a rich history and culture, so it is not surprising that the currency of Portugal also has an impressive history of its development and change. In this article, you can briefly trace the path of Portuguese money from the 15th century. until today.

A Brief History

The history of the national currency in the country begins at the end of the 14th century, when the Portuguese real was put into circulation by King Fernando I. This monetary unit was official in the country until 1911, later it was replaced due to the revolution that took place in the country.

Real was replaced by the Portuguese escudo, which existed as the state currency until 2002. It was replaced by the single European currency euro. The escudo was divided into one hundred centavos.

Today, the official currency in Portugal is the euro, so people who arrive in the country have no problems exchanging money.

Description

The modern currency of Portugal is outwardly identical to the euro that is in use in most EU countries. One euro is equal to one hundred cents. In circulation are metal coins in denominations from 0.01 to two €. Paper banknotes are issued in denominations of five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred,two hundred and five hundred euros.

Experimentally, the euro was introduced for use in cashless transactions as early as January 1999, but cash began to be used in 2002. Portugal was one of the first countries to switch from a national currency to a common European one. This transition was beneficial for the country in economic terms, since the state currency of Portugal was unstable and not very popular in the world currency market. The euro stabilized the financial structure in the country, and also simplified exchange and other foreign exchange transactions, making Portugal even more attractive to foreign tourists.

Exchange transactions. Course

Old banknotes, whether real, escudo or one hundred centavos, can no longer be exchanged in the country, and it is not so easy to find. They are of interest to numismatists, bonists and collectors. For ordinary people, this money has no value, except as an extraordinary souvenir.

But the euro, which is the official currency in the state, is used everywhere, not only in Portugal itself, but also on the territory of all countries that use this currency (these countries include 19 EU states and 9 other European states). It does not matter in which of these countries the money was printed or exchanged, they are accepted everywhere.

In Portugal you can easily exchange dollars, British pounds and some other banknotes. It is somewhat more difficult to exchange rubles, although many banks and exchangepoints work with this Russian currency, the commission can be very high, so it is better to exchange rubles for dollars or euros in advance.

The exchange rate today is about sixty rubles, although it is unstable. For one ruble they give about 0.16 €. Compared to the US dollar, one euro can get you approximately $1.1. Accordingly, for a dollar you will receive about 0.9 €.

Conclusion

Portugal is a very interesting and beautiful country, which is visited by millions of tourists every year, so the fact that the national currency of Portugal is the euro is very important. After all, this allows people not to worry about exchanging money, eliminates a number of possible problems and difficulties. It was with this calculation that the Portuguese government decided to change the national currency to the common European one.

This financial reform led to significant economic improvements in the country, although not making Portugal an advanced European power, but having an extremely positive impact on the financial situation. Portugal has ceased to be an outsider of the European Union, but the income in the country is still lower than in Western Europe.

Russian tourists also benefit from the fact that the euro is in official circulation in Portugal. Despite the fact that this tourist destination is not in great demand among Russians, quite a lot of our compatriots come to the country. It is often more profitable for Russians to exchange money in Russia and come to Portugal with dollars or euros. bring to the countryrubles, of course, you can, but the exchange rate may not be the most profitable, and it will not be possible to exchange money everywhere.