Portugal 2½ Euros, 2008

2½ Euros from Portugal. Issued in 2008. Struck in Copper-nickel. Measures 28 mm and weighs 10 g.

Obverse

Portugal's coat of arms and a plucked string instrument.

Reverse

Female singer of fado, a Portuguese musical genre that emerged around 1820 or 1840. It takes the form of a melancholy song, generally accompanied by plucked string instruments. The fado singer or fadist (fadista) generally exploits recurring themes: saudade, unfulfilled love, jealousy, nostalgia for the dead and the past, the difficulty of living, grief, exile... This song was first sung in the slums before reaching the bourgeoisie. Fado was Portugal's national song under the dictator Salazar. The word fado comes from the Latin fatum, meaning "fate".

Edge

Reeded like II II II II