Context Until the 1960s, banknotes put into circulation in Brazil were, for the most part, made to order abroad, and eventual issues by the
Casa da Moeda do Brasil were punctual, the main experiences being the issuance of banknotes in values between 1 mil-réis and 1 conto de réis for National Treasury banknotes in the early 1920s and later, 5 cruzeiros note issued in 1961, called the Indian note (
nota do índio in Portuguese), which, due to its relative scarcity and very low face value, was treated as a
souvenir. Due to inflation, which accelerated in the 1950s and reached close to 100% a year in the mid-1960s, 1 and 2 cruzeiros banknotes were no longer issued in the late 1950s and coins in such amounts ceased to be issued in 1961, from then on, only banknotes were issued with values starting at 5 cruzeiros. The centavo-coins in the early 1960s were in practice worthless and were demonetized by law in 1964. In the same law, there was a proposal that if there was the issue of coins to replace the then existing banknotes up to the value of 500 cruzeiros and the issue banknotes only in denominations of 1000, 5000 and 10000 cruzeiros. The first coins, launched by the
Central Bank of Brazil in 1965 with values of 10, 20 and 50 cruzeiros were not very well accepted by the population. Considering the currency redenominations by France and Chile in 1960, which would later launch the
new franc and the
escudo equivalent to 100
old francs and 1000
pesos respectively, there were a series of proposals for the redenomination of the currency, trying to avoid having the same problem with the cruzeiro that had occurred with the previous currency with its mil-réis (1000x) multiplier. Such proposals initially came from members of parliament and no consensus was reached.
Cruzeiro novo With a bad reception to 10, 20 and 50 cruzeiros coins and due to the low value of the then-current Cruzeiro, the issuance of coins equivalent to values below 10
cruzeiros becomes excessively costly, on 13 November 1965, the "
cruzeiro novo" was created as a transitional currency to replace the devalued "old"
cruzeiro. It was set to be used until the () decided the national currency could once again be called "
cruzeiro". The new currency would have parity with the "old"
cruzeiro at a rate of 1000
cruzeiros = 1
cruzeiro novo. Banknotes in the values of 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 and 10000 old cruzeiros received stamps with the values of 1, 5, 10, 50 Centavos, 1, 5 and 10 Cruzeiros Novos respectively. The 20 and 200 old Cruzeiro banknotes were not issued in the transition to the Cruzeiro Novo, but equivalent coins were issued to replace such banknotes. File:Nota 500 cruzeiros.jpg|A 500
cruzeiro banknote, overstamped as a 0,50 (50 cents)
cruzeiro novo note File:Cédula do Santos Dumont.png|A 10,000
cruzeiro banknote, overstamped as a 10
cruzeiro novo note
Cruzeiro On 31 March 1970, the
Central Bank of Brazil announced new banknote designs, and published a resolution determining the national currency would once again be called "
cruzeiro" – dropping the word "nôvo" – starting from 15 May 1970. The provisional bills then in circulation for the Cruzeiro Novo, as well as those still in circulation for the
old Cruzeiro, ceased to have legal tender on 30 June 1972, when with a value equal to or less than 10 centavos, on 30 June 1973, when with a value between 20 centavos and 1 Cruzeiro, 30 June 1974, when worth 5 Cruzeiros and 30 June 1975, when worth 10 Cruzeiros. In 1972, the 500 Cruzeiro banknote and a modified version of the 1 Cruzeiro banknote were launched. In 1973, a modified version of the 5 Cruzeiros banknote, rarely issued until then, would be released. In 1978, the 1000 Cruzeiro banknote was launched, with a completely different model from the notes issued until then, and in 1979 modified versions of the 10 and 500 Cruzeiro notes were launched. In 1981, a family of banknotes based on the model of the 1000 cruzeiros note of 1978 was launched, with banknotes worth 100, 200, 500, 1000 and 5000 cruzeiros being issued. There would be no new changes in the currency until 1984, when banknotes of up to 50 cruzeiros lost their legal tender and banknotes of 10,000 and 50,000 cruzeiros were launched. In 1985, the 100,000 Cruzeiro banknote was launched and the project for the 500,000 Cruzeiro note, scheduled to be launched in 1986, would not be launched due to the Cruzado Plan.
Withdrawal In 1986, the country switched to the
cruzado, at a rate of 1
cruzado = 1000
cruzeiros. The 100, 200 and 500 Cruzeiro banknotes were withdrawn on 30 June 1987. The 1000 and 5000 Cruzeiro banknotes were withdrawn during Plano Verão in 1989. Finally, banknotes of 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000 Cruzeiros (then 1, 5 and 10 centavos of the Cruzado Novo) were declared worthless during the Collor Plan. == Coins ==