In the Portuguese territory: from the first coins to Portuguese coins
Before the arrival of coins in what is known today as Portuguese territory, many different reference value objects, forming veritable pre-monetary systems were employed. Among these were merchants' treasuries and systems based on weight.
It was however the Romans, with their large-scale market economy, who introduced the massive use of the coinage whose attributions we recognize today.
The settlement of Germanic peoples in Iberia and later the Arab occupation explain the presence in the Portuguese territory of coins before the minting of Portuguese coins.
Note: This part of the museum displays items from the collection of Casa da Moeda, the Portuguese Mint.