ARGUMENT OVERVIEW
The inheritance of the real (plural réis), can be captured by the interaction of war, taxes and gold - where war may be civil and taxes include domain revenues collected mostly in Lisbon.
While it ceased to be the national currency in 1911, the real is linked to the euro, created in 1999 as the common denomination of ten European currencies, including the escudo (or mil réis =1000 réis).
The link shows that the perceived novelty of financial freedom for Portuguese residents is not a feature of monetary history but rather a reflection of monetary myths.