Portugal 2013 5€ Queen Mary II

The name by which the coin came to be known (the “beheaded”) is a good way of describing its peculiar feature: contrary to the norm, only the head of the Queen is shown, not the entire bust. The Queen did not appreciate this daring and she ordered the suspension of the minting; this made a big contribution to the rarity of the degolada. The monetary system entered the decimal regime under Maria II of Portugal. A reforming monarch, it was during her reign that the Banco de Portugal was founded by the merger of the Banco de Lisboa and the Companhia Confiança Nacional.

Free education was Also introduced under Maria II, along with the first schools, the schools of medicine and surgery in Lisbon and Porto and the industrial and agricultural schools. The political instability experienced during her reign did not prevent her from pointing her country in the direction of modernity.