Portugal P178 100 Escudos 1980-85 XF Extra Fine—This Obscene Poet Got Inquisition

A handsome circulated survivor from Portugal's final Escudo era — the 8th print of the beloved Bocage 100 Escudos note, featuring one of the country's most celebrated and scandalous literary figures alongside a stunning engraving of Rossio Square as it appeared at the dawn of the 19th century.

Front

• Color: Dark blue on multicolor underprint
• Portrait: Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage (1765–1805), poet, from an engraving by painter Henrique José da Silva
• Coat of arms: Portuguese Coat of Arms at upper left
• Print designation: Chapa 8 (8th print)

Back

• Color: Dark blue on multicolor underprint
• Scene: Reproduction of an engraving of Rossio Square (O Rossio) at the beginning of the 19th century

Other Characteristics

• Varieties: You may receive any variety:
  • P-178a; Silva# 107 — 1980-Sep-02; Gov. Manuel Jacinto Nunes
  • P-178b; Silva# 108 — 1981-Feb-24; Gov. Manuel Jacinto Nunes
  • P-178c; Silva# 109 — 1984-Jan-31; Gov. Manuel Jacinto Nunes
  • P-178d; Silva# 110 — 1985-Mar-12; Gov. Vítor Manuel Ribeiro Constâncio
  • P-178e; Silva# 111/112 — 1985-Jun-04; Gov. Vítor Manuel Ribeiro Constâncio
• Catalog numbers: P-178; Silva# 107–111; Numista N#202847
• Watermark: Manuel M. B. du Bocage
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 150 × 73 mm
• Issuing entity: Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal)
• Printer: Royal Joh. Enschedé (Koninklijke Joh. Enschedé), Haarlem, Netherlands
• Demonetized: 31 May 1990
• Currency: Portuguese Escudo (1911–2001)

The Defrocked Poet Who Shocked a Nation

Bocage was born in Setúbal in 1765 and became the most celebrated — and most notorious — lyric poet of 18th-century Portugal. A master of the sonnet, he combined classical elegance with raw, often obscene wit that landed him in serious trouble with the Inquisition. He was imprisoned in 1797 for his irreverent verses and his association with Freemasonry and revolutionary ideas flowing in from France. After recanting, he was released — a broken but still brilliant figure who died in 1805 at just 40 years old. His erotic and satirical poems circulated in manuscript for generations after his death, making him a kind of underground literary legend. Today he is remembered as the Portuguese Rimbaud — a genius who burned too bright and too fast.

Rossio: The Living Room of Lisbon

Rossio Square (officially Praça Dom Pedro IV) has been the beating heart of Lisbon for over 700 years. The engraving on the reverse captures it at the turn of the 19th century — before the neoclassical National Theatre (built 1842) dominated its northern end, and before the iconic wave-pattern cobblestones were laid. In Bocage's own lifetime, this was the square where news spread, poets argued, and the city's pulse was felt. The pairing of poet and square on this note is no accident — both are quintessentially, irreducibly Lisboeta.

About Portugal

• Origin of name: From Portus Cale, the Roman name for the settlement near present-day Porto at the mouth of the Douro River; evolved through medieval Latin into "Portugale" and then "Portugal"
• Capital: Lisbon — city pop. ~545,000; metro pop. ~2.9 million (UN 2023) — comparable to Kansas City metro or the city of Atlanta
  • Origin of name of Lisbon: Likely pre-Roman, possibly Phoenician Allis Ubbo ("delightful shore"); Romans called it Olisipo, which evolved through Moorish Al-Ushbuna into the modern name
• Population: ~10.2 million (UN 2023) — comparable to Michigan or Sweden
• Area: 92,212 km² (35,603 mi²) — slightly smaller than Indiana or South Korea
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$40,000 USD (IMF 2024)
• Main exports: Vehicles and parts, refined petroleum, machinery, footwear, cork products, wine, tourism services
• Borders: Spain (only land border); Atlantic Ocean to the west and south
• Official language: Portuguese
• Ethnicities: Portuguese (majority); significant communities of Brazilians, Cape Verdeans, and other Lusophone Africans
• Memberships: United Nations (1955); NATO (founding member, 1949); European Union (1986); Eurozone (1999); CPLP (founding member, 1996 — hosts secretariat in Lisbon)
• Sovereignty: Independent kingdom from 1139; republic since 1910; current democratic republic established after the Carnation Revolution of 1974

Portugal Unfiltered

• The Age of Discovery: Portugal was the first European power to establish a global maritime empire — by 1500, Portuguese sailors had reached Brazil, India, and the coast of Africa, reshaping world trade forever
• The 1755 Lisbon earthquake killed an estimated 30,000–40,000 people and triggered a tsunami and fire that destroyed most of the city — one of the deadliest earthquakes in European history, it sparked the Enlightenment debate on theodicy
• Cork king: Portugal produces over 50% of the world's cork, and the Alentejo region alone contains the largest cork oak forest on Earth
• Fado: Portugal's haunting national music genre is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage — its themes of longing (saudade) mirror the national psyche shaped by centuries of seafaring and loss
• Salazar's long shadow: António de Oliveira Salazar ruled Portugal as a dictator from 1932 to 1968 — one of the longest-serving authoritarian rulers in 20th-century Europe — and the country only transitioned to democracy in 1974, just six years before this note was printed
• The Escudo's end: This very note was demonetized in 1990, and the Escudo itself vanished entirely in 2002 when Portugal adopted the Euro — a currency that would have been unimaginable when Bocage walked the streets of Lisbon

Own this XF example of Portugal P-178 and hold a piece of the final chapter of the Escudo — a note that pairs one of Portugal's most rebellious literary minds with the square where Lisbon has always come alive.