Pedro I - Founder of the Empire of Brazil.

So here we have the Brazilian centavo, nominal - 10. The year of issue of this coin is 2003. Mint: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Total circulation – 252.666.000.

Pedro I, born October 12 in 1798, Lisbon, Portugal — died September 24 in 1834, Lisbon. Founder of the Brazilian empire and first emperor of Brazil, from December 1 in 1822, to April 7 in 1831, also reckoned as King Pedro (Peter) IV of Portugal.

Pedro surrounded himself with ministers who counseled independence. When the Portuguese Cortês (Parliament), preferring colonial status for Brazil, demanded that Pedro return to Lisbon to “complete his political education,” he issued a declaration of Brazilian independence on Sept. 7, 1822.

Pedro’s initial popularity waned, and in 1823, when the Brazilian Assembly was preparing a liberal constitution, he dissolved that body and exiled the radical leader José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva. On March 25, 1824, however, Pedro accepted a somewhat less liberal constitution drafted by the Council of State at his behest.

Although adoption of that charter may have saved Pedro from deposition, it did not reestablish his popularity. His autocratic manner, his lack of enthusiasm for parliamentary government, and his continuing deep interest in Portuguese affairs antagonized his subjects, as did the failure of his military forces in a war with Argentina over what is now Uruguay. Strong opposition in the Brazilian Parliament and a series of local uprisings induced him to abdicate in 1831 in favour of his son Dom Pedro II, who was then five years old. Pedro I then returned to Portugal.