Brazil – So Much Real Potential

Few countries have the size, population and natural resources that bless Brazil. It is the 5^th largest country and has the 6^th largest population. It is home to a large part of the Amazon basin to its west and a long coastline with the Atlantic. Brazil also has significant energy and mineral sources. These blessings have not brought political and economic stability. While Brazil fought and won its independence from Portugal in 1822, it has experienced turmoil throughout most of its history. 

Turmoil has an upside, at least if you are a banknote printer or collector. Brazil probably has issued more banknote series per decade than any other country. Brazil has issued three different Cruzeiros while demonetizing prior ones. Cruzeiro represents the South Cross, the most significant constellation in the Southern Hemisphere.

Previous Brazilian Banknotes

The 1970s cruzeiro, printed locally by the Brazilian Casa da Moeda are surprisingly simple. The 1 Cruzeiro (P-191-ar) is green with a small effigy on the front and a building on the back. They look more like coupons than currency. To commemorate 150 years on independence, the bank issued a 500 Cruzeiro. Its design is unusual. The front has several portraits of leaders to show a progression from the past to present. On the back, it has images of the country, again progressing from exploration to the present. In 1978, the bank created possibly the most unusual series of banknotes. Beginning with the 1000 cruzeiro (P-197-ar), the design of the banknotes became symmetrical top to bottom. It was if the designer was Escher. The front had 2 portraits, one an upside-down mirror image of the other. Reverse also had a symmetrical image. These notes are creepy and must be seen to be believed.

Current Series

After another bout of economic instability, the government replaced the Cruzeiro with the Brazilian Real. The 1994 – 2010 series had straight-forward designs with a mythical person shown on the front also large images of local animals on the reverse. The 1 real had hummingbird, the 2 a turtle. The most unusual is the 20 that has a Golden-lion tamarin which looks like a small monkey with an impressive mane. In 2010, the designs were upgraded with new security features and more intricate line designing but the general design elements remained. A new 200 Real was introduced in 2020 which included a maned wolf on the reverse. The newest series are improvements over the 1^st real series. Animal lovers will really like the images on the back of each note, especially the 50 real which shows a relaxing jaguar.