2$50 Escudos meaning

Hi there, this coin https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces774.html does make me overthink what it means. Our catalog says its 2,50 Escudos but in wikipedia there is written that this coin stands for 2.500 Escudos. What might be right?

Wikipedia probably goes by the American notation, where 2.5 = 2,5. The coin is 2 1/2 escudos.

which is correct depends entirely on where one is standing.
The use of the 'point' by the English speaking world , versus the 'comma', by the rest of the world, is a constant cause of confusion. Even worse is the separators of thousands groups by the inverse in the two systems.
I work in the USA with many European partners, and must tread this boundary carefully.
Here on Numista, as it is a French web site, I have determined to use the comma.

SI has tried to smooth out the confusion by replace the thousand group separators with spaces, and accept either comma or point as the decimal separator. As with all standardization effors this just adds to the galaxy of possibilities one must be ready for. So there are now four ways one may see one million expressed in digits - 1 000 000.00 - 1 000 000,00 - 1,000,000.00 and 1.000.000,00
we will not even discuss the use of the lakh and crore.

Цитата: "Mr. Midnight"​Here on Numista, as it is a French web site, I have determined to use the comma.

​
I have used both at various times myself, depending on how my little grey cells were calibrated that day! Drove my maths teacher round the bend.

Regardless, I was recently in Portugal and on many of the escudo coins, I found it strange to see a denomination written as "5$00" (for 5,00/5.00) on a coin. Wikipedia for some reason decides to add an extra decimal place, even though no 1/1000th of an Escudo coin was ever issued.

I read 2$50 as 'two dollars 50 cents' . It is plain enough, though used no where else , AFAIK.

The placement of the $ sign is another enigma. In the US the $ is placed at the front of the valuation - $1.00
but in Quebec, the $ - goes at the end - 1.00$

that extra zero on wikipedia begs to be edited out...

Цитата: "Mr. Midnight"​I read 2$50 as 'two dollars 50 cents' . It is plain enough, though used no where else , AFAIK.

​Well, it should be read as "two escudos and fifty centavos"

In Portugal, when we write about Escudos, we use the sign "$" instead of "comma".
Therefore, five Escudos is writen as 5$00 and we do not have the need of mention the word Escudo.
If we want to say 26 Escudos and 30 Cents we just write 26$30.

Цитата: "monge"​In Portugal, when we write about Escudos, we use the sign "$" instead of "comma".
​Therefore, five Escudos is writen as 5$00 and we do not have the need of mention the word Escudo.
​If we want to say 26 Escudos and 30 Cents we just write 26$30.​

​did you keep this system with the euro, and write 5€10? it would be pretty neat if you did

Цитата: "ngdawa"​

Цитата: "monge"​In Portugal, when we write about Escudos, we use the sign "$" instead of "comma".
​​Therefore, five Escudos is writen as 5$00 and we do not have the need of mention the word Escudo.
​​If we want to say 26 Escudos and 30 Cents we just write 26$30.​

​​did you keep this system with the euro, and write 5€10? it would be pretty neat if you did

​When I went to Portugal over Christmas all prices I saw were written 5,10 € like how they might be in France or Italy- so from my experience at least, nope!

Цитата: "CassTaylor"

Цитата: "ngdawa"

Цитата: "monge"​In Portugal, when we write about Escudos, we use the sign "$" instead of "comma".
​​​Therefore, five Escudos is writen as 5$00 and we do not have the need of mention the word Escudo.
​​​If we want to say 26 Escudos and 30 Cents we just write 26$30.​

​​​did you keep this system with the euro, and write 5€10? it would be pretty neat if you did

​​When I went to Portugal over Christmas all prices I saw were written 5,10 € like how they might be in France or Italy- so from my experience at least, nope!

​that's a shame..not just the currency disappeares, but also the unique way of writing them out..since the € signs stands after the numbers, in contrary to the $ (dollar) sign, if would still make sense..i miss travelling europe and bring home 15 different currencies..

I never knew the pre-euro currencies personally so there's less nostalgic attachment to them personally.... but I have known the convenience of not having to switch currencies every so often for my short life so far, so I'm not too bothered.

And now if you live in a Eurozone country, then coins from 22 other countries have the chance to come to you instead.

The triple decimal notation was probably from before 1910, when the unit was still in Real. The Real had dropped so much in value that prices were often written in Milreis (1,000 Reis, plural of Real). The notation was 1$000.

In 1910 the Real was replaced by the Escudo at 1000 Reis (1 Centavo = 10 old Reis) and from then on one decimal less was needed.

The name Escudo originates from French Écu which was a large silver coin. Such coins were known in Italy as Scudo. The large silver 5 Lire coins are also known in Italy as Scudo. The first Portuguese Escudo coin had a similar silver content but was devalued heavily from 1920.

Цитата: "jokinen"​The triple decimal notation was probably from before 1910, when the unit was still in Real. The Real had dropped so much in value that prices were often written in Milreis (1,000 Reis, plural of Real). The notation was 1$000.
​
​In 1910 the Real was replaced by the Escudo at 1000 Reis (1 Centavo = 10 old Reis) and from then on one decimal less was needed.
​
​The name Escudo originates from French Écu which was a large silver coin. Such coins were known in Italy as Scudo. The large silver 5 Lire coins are also known in Italy as Scudo. The first Portuguese Escudo coin had a similar silver content but was devalued heavily from 1920.

This is correct.
It is not known exactly when the "$" starts to be used instead of the "comma".
The Escudo existed before the Republic(1910) and was equal to 1000 Reis. Therefore, one ESC= 1$000.

@ngdawa - I agree completely! Every time we move toward a uniform system we lose a lot of history. Even though uniform systems serve a real purpose we must balance that with preservation. It's called "cultural ecology" and this is a great example. For example, there are many measuring systems around the world besides SI and other calendars besides the Gregorian etc etc. We should always think twice before replacing our heritage.

PS: I have a few of the "2$50" escudos and I kept them just because of that design!