Dom Pedro II (Peter II) was born in Rio De Janeiro on December 2, 1825. Upon the abdication of his father in 1831, he ascended the throne at the age of six. He was officially crowned emperor of Brazil ten years later upon reaching adulthood. Peter II gave Brazil 49 years of domestic peace, prosperity and progress, ending his rule in 1889. During his reign "Union and Industry", the first paved road, was built; the first steam-engine started running; the postal stamp was instituted; the submarine wire was installed and the telephone was inaugurated. On that note, an interesting bit of trivia with which you can amaze your friends is that Peter II is believed to have been the first Brazilian to speak on a telephone.

The obverses of the Brazilian 10,000 Reis face value and 20,000 Reis face value coins feature the image of Peter II with the Latin legend "PETRUS II.D.G.C.IMP. ET PERP.BRAS.DEF" meaning "Peter II by Grace of God and Perpetual Defender of Brazil". The reverse of each coin shows the Imperial Arms and the Latin Legend, "IN HOC SIGNO VINCES"; translated, "In this sign, you will conquer".

We are pleased to have secured a cache of these two wonderful coins, with a hefty gold content weighing in at over one-quarter troy ounce for the 10,000 Reis coin, and a toe-bruising one-half-plus troy ounce for the 20,000 Reis coin. While the minting of these coins spanned four decades, fans of older coins may be pleased to know that our cache is primarily comprised of dates from the earliest -- the 1850's, however, all orders will be filled randomly from our cache of these extra fine coins.

Two years ago we were able to offer an extremely limited number of the more modern 20,000 Reis gold coins, minted 1889-1922 by the Republic of the United States of Brazil. However, this is the first time we have been able to offer these older Brazilian specimens, representing a truly great chance to add the old spice of variety to your growing coin portfolio. These coins will also be excellent companions to the Uruguayan and Argentine coins we've previously featured. Order today and seize this chance to own a piece of South American history at a price not remarkably far from the bullion weight equivalent!