Portuguese dinheiro–soldo–libra accounting
Portuguese dinheiro, soldo and libra reckoning, followed by the real in royal accounts.
- Dates in use
- Introduction and ending not established
- Ancestry branch
- Roman solidus
Its place in the family
All ancestors and descendants ↗Portuguese dinheiro–soldo–libra accounting
This currencyChildren 1
Trace its ancestry backward
Portuguese dinheiro–soldo–libra accounting
Frankish denier–livre
Roman solidus–nomisma
Roman as–denarius accounting
Earlier ancestry is not established here.
1 later contribution joined this currency. See those connections →
The story
Its older Frankish ancestry is admitted through the Carolingian-derived account tradition. The immediate path into Portugal, including the proposed León connection, remains open. Around 1435–1436 the real replaced the libra in state accounting. [1] [2] [3]
Turning points
Account-unit observation
Portucalense land contracts state soldo debts settled in dinheiros, including money of King AlfonsoVI. These are earlier regional account witnesses. [4]
Account-unit observation
Coimbra’s municipal ordinance sets goods prices in denarii and penalties in solidi, with the king’s consent. This is legal Portuguese dinheiro/soldo accounting before the libra’s later introduction as a larger multiple. [5]
Account-unit observation
The price law values a load of wax at 90 Portuguese libras, an arroba at 7.5 libras, and an arrátel at 4 soldos 8 dinheiros. This directly attests the integrated account scales. [6]
Account-unit observation
The law of 11April 1401 adjusts rent and debt obligations denominated in Portuguese libras. [7]
Sources and evidence
- Miquel Crusafont, Anna M. Balaguer and Philip Grierson · Medieval European Coinage, volume 6 (2013) C1990 ↗
- James J.Todesca · It Touches All: Coinage and Monetary Policy in León-Castile to 1230, FordhamPhD 1996; Andrew Kurt · Visigothic Currency in its Making and Movement (2019) C1995 ↗
- Pedro Puntoni · Da libra ao real: sobre a formação do sistema monetário português (1185–1580), Revista de História178 (2019), DOI10.11606/issn.2316-9141.rh.2019.141351 C1800 ↗
- Damião Peres · Analogias e discordâncias das numárias medievais de Leão-Castela e Portugal, Nvmisma78–83(1966),23–34 C1931 ↗
- Coimbra municipal ordinance 1145; reproduced by António Amaro Rosa from Alexandre Herculano’s 1867 edition · Os Pelourinhos da Lusitânia(1820–1974), documentary appendix, Document1; Damião Peres · Analogias e discordâncias das numárias medievais de Leão-Castela e Portugal, Nvmisma78–83(1966),23–34 C1929 ↗
- Luís Seabra Lopes · Sistemas Legais de Medidas de Peso e Capacidade, do Condado Portucalense ao Século XVI, Portvgalia24(2003),113–164; Imprensa Nacional–Casa da Moeda · A Casa da Moeda em Datas, chronology C1930 ↗
- Pedro Puntoni · Da libra ao real: sobre a formação do sistema monetário português (1185–1580), Revista de História178 (2019), DOI10.11606/issn.2316-9141.rh.2019.141351 C1743 ↗
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“Portuguese dinheiro–soldo–libra accounting.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Reader edition 2026-10-13; research dataset v44. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/CUR-V28-PORTUGUESE-LIBRA.html