Real (currency)
The
Real (plural
reais) is the monetary unit (
currency) of
Brazil.\n
\n
History
Past
The "Real" was the currency used by the first Portuguese settlers to arrive in the then New World, but the first official money to circulate bearing the name "Real" was actually printed in 1654 by the
Dutch, during their occupation of part of the Brazilian Northeast. The first time the Real became Brazil's official currency was in
1690, and it would remain as such until
1942, when it was replaced with the Cruzeiro.
Millesimal Base
During that period, however, the Real did not have the centesimal base that it has today. Its plural spelled
réis and it was counted in "thousand reais" (
mil-réis). Accordingly, 1000
mil-réis formed
one conto de réis, or simply
conto (e.g: an amount of $1,020,800.40 would be expressed as follows: Rs 1.020:800$400).
Present
It was implemented on 1 July 1994, during the presidency of
Itamar Franco, when
Fernando Henrique Cardoso was the Minister of Finances. The new currency's success paved the way to Mr. Cardoso's victory in the presidential election held in that same year.
It replaced the previous currency, the Cruzeiro. The Real was preceded by a conversion unit called URV (Portuguese:
Unidade
Real de
Valor; English: "Real" Value Unit), which was meant to express values in the yet-to-be-implemented currency as opposed to those in the previous currency. On the 1st of July, 1994, 1 URV = Cr$2,750.00 (Cruzeiro value); 1 URV = 1 Real.
One of the main goals of the new currency was to end a period of high
inflation and stabilize the currency
exchange rate. 100
cents (centavos) = 1 Real. 3 reais = one
Dollar. Its symbol is
R$ and its
abbreviation (
ISO 4217) is BRL.
Bills
\n
Plastic Bill
In April 2000, in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Portuguese arrival on Brazilian shores, the Brazilian Central Bank released a plastic 10
reais bill that circulates along with the other bills above. It is made primarily of
polymer.
The Brazilian
Mint printed 250 million units, which at the time accounted for about half of the 10
reais bills in circulation.
\n\n| Value | Front | Back Side | \n
|---|
| 10 |  |  |
|
\n\n
Illustrations
The plastic bill contains a more complex pattern, as follows:
Front: \n* Image of
Pedro Álvares Cabral, Portuguese sea captain; \n* A representation of the map "
Terra Brasilis", one of the earliest drawings of the land; \n* A passage from Pero Vaz de Caminha's letter to King
Manuel I of Portugal, the first known description of Brazil;\n* A
16th century Portuguese Rose of Winds;\n* To the right of the map, five ships from Cabral's expedition appear; \n* In the background, decorative elements from Portuguese tiles can be seen;\n* Finally, also in the background, the Cross from the Order of Christ, which was present in all Portuguese ships of the time, appears.
Back: A styled version of a map of Brazil with photographs depicting the ethnic variety of the Brazilian people (white, black, indian and
mestizo).
Coins
For each denomination, two types of coin exist in Brazil. The original one, released in 1994, had
stainless steel as its primary material. Those coins are called
1st Family. Later, the government decided to release a second set of coins, with different colors and sizes, to facilitate the use by the general public. Those are the
2nd Family.
Both are equally valid, but the government has plans to eventually remove the 1st Family from circulation and keep only the second set of coins. On
December 23,
2003, the 1st Family's one real coin was removed from circulation and is no longer valid. The process to completely replace it with the 2nd Family's coin is expected to be long and slow, and the old coin is still exchangeable for the new one at designated places (commercial banks, Central Bank agencies, etc.).
1st Family
\n\n| Value | Front | Back Side | \n
|---|
| 0,01 |  |  |
\n| 0,05 |  |  |
\n| 0,10 |  |  |
\n| 0,25 |  |  |
\n| 0,50 |  |  |
| 1 |  |  |
]]
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