The real was the currency of

Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe islands were a colony of the Portuguese Empire from its discovery in 1470 until 1975, when independence was granted by Portugal. History The Portuguese explorers João de Santarém and Pêro Escobar discovered the isla ...

until 1914. It was equivalent to the

Portuguese real The ''real'' (, meaning "royal", plural: ''réis'' or rchaic''reais'') was the unit of currency of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire from around 1430 until 1911. It replaced the '' dinheiro'' at the rate of 1 real = 840 dinheiros and was itself ...

. Coins were issued specifically for São Tomé and Príncipe until 1825 and banknotes were issued for the colony beginning in 1897. The real was replaced by the

escudo The escudo ( Portuguese: 'shield') is a unit of currency historically used in Portugal and its colonies in South America, Asia, and Africa. It was originally worth 16 silver . The Cape Verdean escudo and the former Portuguese escudo (PTE), eac ...

at a rate of 1000 réis = 1 escudo.

Coins

Until 1825, copper coins were issued in São Tomé and Príncipe for 20, 40 and 80 réis.

Banknotes

In 1897, the

Banco National Ultramarino Banco Nacional Ultramarino (, BNU; ; en, National Overseas Bank) is a Macau banking and financial services corporation. It was a Portuguese bank with operations throughout the world, especially in Portugal's former overseas provinces. It ceased e ...

introduced notes for 1000, 2000, 2500, 5000, 10,000 and 20,000 réis. Denominations of 50,000 réis notes were added in 1909.

References

* * Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Portugal Economic history of Portugal 1914 disestablishments History of São Tomé and Príncipe Currencies of São Tomé and Príncipe Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe {{Portugal-stub