Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking country in South America and also by far the largest and most populous. It was discovered by Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500. In 1822 it became an independent country, factually a continuation of the Portuguese dynasty who moved to Brazil to evade Napoleon. Emperor Pedro II was ousted in 1889 by a military coup and the country was subsequently run by various dictatorial regimes. In 1985 it became a full democracy and since the end of the 90's it has enjoyed considerable economic growth, and is part of the BRIC group of emerging economic powers. Recently Brazil was hit by corruption scandals, most notably within its largest oil company Petrobras.
Brazil used the same currency as Portugal, which was the Rei (plural Reis). In the early 19th century, 640 Reis was fixed to 17.92 grams of .917 silver (roughly equivalent of 3 shillings or 2/3 Peso). In 1834, it was devalued by 20% with all coins now showing 25% higher nominal value. 1200 Reis was now more or less equal to one Peso or Spanish Dollar. In 1846, it was devalued further by 37.5%, with 2000 Reis now equal to 1 Peso or Dollar or 5 French Francs.
The currency stayed stable during the reign of Pedro II, but started devaluing after the establishment of the republic. In 1906, it was devalued by 25% (2500 Reis to 1$), and in 1926 another 60% (6250 Reis to 1$). In 1933, this became 12,500 Reis to 1$ and in 1939 22,500 Reis to 1$.
In 1942, the Cruzeiro replaced the old Rei at a rate of 1000 to 1. Also this currency suffered from inflation and by 1967 the value had dropped to 2700 Cruzeiros to USD and it was replaced by the new Cruzeiro at again a 1000 to 1 rate.
The Cruzeiro lost value at the same pace. By the end of 1975 the rate was 9 Cruzeiros per Dollar and 7 years later more than 300 per $ and inflation accelerated even further. In 1986, the Cruzado replaced the Cruzeiro at the traditional 1000 to 1 rate. The exchange rate at that time was 14 Cruzados/$.
By 1989 that rate had changed to 1000 Cruzados/$, and again the Brazilians chopped off three zeroes and introduced the Novo Cruzado, which was renamed to Cruzeiro in 1990. Nothing stopped the high inflation, and by 1993 the value had dropped from parity with USD to 1335 Cr/$. Excellent reason to introduce yet another worthless Brazilian currency at a rate of 1000:1, the Cruzeiro Real. The Cruzeiro Real was allowed to float in the free market, and it sank in a year time to 2750 Cr$/USD.
In 1994, the Real replaced the Cruzeiro Real at a rate of 2750 to 1. This time the Brazilians did manage to stabilize their currency after skyrocketing hyperinflation since 1980. The Real's value did drop to 3R/$ by 2000 but after that slowly increased in value against the greenback, a phenomenon no Brazilian had ever experienced before. In 2011 the rate was even well below 2, but recent turmoil in Brazil and a strong USD has put the current BRL/USD rate to just above 3.
Brazil's eventful monetary history produced a wide variety of very nice collectable coins. I own 85 different types and I really like the coins from 1850 to 1942. I even enjoyed finding all the coins from the hyperinflation era (i call it the Steel Age as all coins were made of that) knowing what was going on at that time. It's not a surprise the initial Real coin series in 1994 was made of steel. Only by the time the currency proved solid enough other compositions were introduced.
As I wrote before, I really like the old Real coinage. They are pretty affordable compared to contemporary US or European coins and the designs and denominations are typical for Brazil.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/bresil-1.html
World coins chat: Brazil
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Quote: jokinenMy Brazilian collection starts in 1864 with a silver 500 Reis. I've seen only very worn older Brazilian coins (including Pedro I ones) and I am quite picky on condition.My older Brazilian coin is from 1816; a 960 Réis, which is an over-strike over what appears to be a Mexican, other Colonial or maybe even an Spanish 8 Reales coin, which can barely tell from the remaining letters in the flat areas of the over-punch. A pretty curious piece, which I got from my mom after she died, as she left me her small coin collection, with several surprises from around the globe. Which surely got to her from my Great-grand-father, who was a sailor who traveled around the globe (at least we are sure he got to China, India and the Russian Empire during his voyages).
And my Great-grand-mother was French, so there you have it, I am 1/16 French
And one of my sisters lives in France and she has two French children, so "what goes around comes around". Numista referee for the "Viceroyalty of the New Spain" (most of it).
History through coins.
Eli V
History through coins.
Eli V
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Quote: erdvillaWe all are a big Earth family!Quote: jokinenMy Brazilian collection starts in 1864 with a silver 500 Reis. I've seen only very worn older Brazilian coins (including Pedro I ones) and I am quite picky on condition.My older Brazilian coin is from 1816; a 960 Réis, which is an over-strike over what appears to be a Mexican, other Colonial or maybe even an Spanish 8 Reales coin, which can barely tell from the remaining letters in the flat areas of the over-punch. A pretty curious piece, which I got from my mom after she died, as she left me her small coin collection, with several surprises from around the globe. Which surely got to her from my Great-grand-father, who was a sailor who traveled around the globe (at least we are sure he got to China, India and the Russian Empire during his voyages).
And my Great-grand-mother was French, so there you have it, I am 1/16 French
Cents are money too!
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Pedro I coins aren´t all that hard to find, the copper in low grades are very cheap. The expensive ones are the silver and gold ones.
Nowadays the prices are about that:
80 Réis, Rio mint, Copper, (without counterstamp) Fine - 10 Reais (roughly 3 dollars)
960 Réis, Rio mint, (the smaller silver coins are even more expensive!) VF - 250 Reais (roughly 75 dollars)
(from my collection)
40 Réis 1826-R with 20 general counterstamp
(from my collection)
960 Réis 1824-R (it may be a bit hard to see the date kkk) struck over 8 Reales from Lima (181?)
Coins from Bahia (Ae, Ag, Au), Cuiabá (Ae) and Goiás (Ae) are more expensive than Rio coins. Coins without counterstamp (see the 1st picture) are a bit more expensive than countermarked coins. Here we call this countermark of "Carimbo geral", in english it translates as general counterstamp. There are also other counterstamps, just as the Ceará, Maranhão, Pará (very similar to the general counterstamp), Piratini (all this countermarks appeared in the period of the regency of Pedro II, except for the general counterstamp all of them were struck in the provinces as result of a lack of control from the Empire).
Actually all the countermarked coins must be listed as Pedro II coins because they were countermarked in 1834 and 1835 (except for the general counterstamp that was struck between 1835 and 1837)
Some dates can be very expensive, like the 1828-R 960 Réis that can reach 5.000 Dollars
Nowadays the prices are about that:
80 Réis, Rio mint, Copper, (without counterstamp) Fine - 10 Reais (roughly 3 dollars)
960 Réis, Rio mint, (the smaller silver coins are even more expensive!) VF - 250 Reais (roughly 75 dollars)
(from my collection)40 Réis 1826-R with 20 general counterstamp
(from my collection)960 Réis 1824-R (it may be a bit hard to see the date kkk) struck over 8 Reales from Lima (181?)
Coins from Bahia (Ae, Ag, Au), Cuiabá (Ae) and Goiás (Ae) are more expensive than Rio coins. Coins without counterstamp (see the 1st picture) are a bit more expensive than countermarked coins. Here we call this countermark of "Carimbo geral", in english it translates as general counterstamp. There are also other counterstamps, just as the Ceará, Maranhão, Pará (very similar to the general counterstamp), Piratini (all this countermarks appeared in the period of the regency of Pedro II, except for the general counterstamp all of them were struck in the provinces as result of a lack of control from the Empire).
Actually all the countermarked coins must be listed as Pedro II coins because they were countermarked in 1834 and 1835 (except for the general counterstamp that was struck between 1835 and 1837)
Some dates can be very expensive, like the 1828-R 960 Réis that can reach 5.000 Dollars
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I found this a few months back and thought that this may be a good place to reference it…
Also, I've had this coin in my collection for some years…
Older Brazilian coins seem to be quite difficult to get hold of in the UK, so despite the somewhat damaged and worn condition, I'm quite pleased to own them.
Amateur coin collector with some tokens
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