Brazilian cruzeiro (1942–1967)

For other currencies of Brazil, including other "cruzeiro"s, see Brazilian currency.

Cruzeiro (1942–1967)
252px Example of a 5 cruzeiro note from 1963 of 2nd print, portraying the bust of Barão do Rio Branco on the obverse
ISO 4217 code	BRZ
Date of introduction	1 November 1942
Source
User(s)	Brazil
Subunit
​1⁄100	centavo
Symbol	₢$ (also Cr $ Cr$ Cr etc. )
Plural	cruzeiros
centavo	centavos
Coins	₢$0.10, ₢$0.20, ₢$0.50, ₢$1, ₢$2, ₢$10, ₢$20, ₢$50
Banknotes	₢$1, ₢$2, ₢$5, ₢$10, ₢$20, ₢$50, ₢$100, ₢$200, ₢$500, ₢$1000, ₢$5000, ₢$10000
Printer	American Bank Note Company (1st print) Thomas de la Rue (2nd print) Casa da Moeda do Brasil (3rd print)
Value	₢$1 ₢$2 ₢$5 ₢$10 ₢$20 ₢$50 ₢$100 ₢$200 ₢$500 ₢$1,000 ₢$5,000 ₢$10,000 (1st print) ₢$2 ₢$5 ₢$10 ₢$20 ₢$50 ₢$100 ₢$200 ₢$500 ₢$1,000 ₢$5,000 (2nd print) ₢$5 (3rd print)
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The (first) cruzeiro (₢$) was the official currency of Brazil from 1942 to 1967. It replaced the old real (pl. réis), which had been in use since colonial times, at the rate of RS$1000 = ₢$1, It was in turn replaced by the cruzeiro novo, at the rate of ₢$1000 = NCr$1.

The name cruzeiro was later reused for two other currencies, which were official in 1970–1986 (initially denominated cruzeiro novo to avoid confusion between new and old currency) and 1990–1993.

The cruzeiro was divided into 100 fractional units called centavos, a convention that persisted through all subsequent Brazilian currencies, but in first cruzeiro, values below 10 centavos never issued because 10-réis coins (equivalent to 1 centavo) have not circulated since the end of the 19th century, and the 20-réis and 50-réis coins (equivalent to 2 and 5 centavos respectively) have not been issued since 1935.

Initially, the project, dating from the late 1920s, was that the amount to be converted into a cruzeiro would be Rs. 10$000 (ten mil-réis) and that the new currency was linked to the gold standard, but this project was aborted and the cruzeiro was put into circulation at par with the value of Rs. 1$000 (one mil-réis) without linked to the gold standard, which changed the situation by making coins below 10 centavos not exist in this monetary standard.

History

Since colonial times, the main currency in Brazil had been the real; first the same as the Portuguese currency, and a separate currency after the country's independence in 1822.

On 1 November 1942 the real was replaced by a new currency, the "cruzeiro", officially worth 1000 réis (mil réis, pronounced mirréis) — which had long been used informally as the currency unit for most retail trades. The old réis banknotes and coins remained in use for a while. Some were overstamped with the amount in cruzeiros. New cruzeiro banknotes were printed starting in 1943.

File:Deodoro da Fonseca na nota de 20 mil réis de 1925.jpg

20 mil réis banknote with a blue overstamp "20 cruzeiros" near the upper left corner.

By 1967 devaluation (inflation) of the cruzeiro had rendered prices unwieldy, so on 13 February 1967 the military government decreed its replacement by a new currency, the Cruzeiro novo (NCr$), at the rate of NCr$1 = ₢$1000.

Name

The name refers to the constellation of the Southern Cross, known in Brazil as Cruzeiro do Sul, or simply Cruzeiro. Prominently visible in the southern hemisphere, it is a major cultural icon in Brazilian history. It is used in a number of Brazilian states' flags, was part of companies' logotypes (like former Sudameris bank or flight company Cruzeiro do Sul) and also gave the name of Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, one of the main Brazilian soccer teams.

The name cruzeiro for the brazilian currency was proposed in 1926, by Brazilian economist Carlos Inglês de Sousa (1882–1948). The first editorial of the Brazilian weekly magazine Cruzeiro apparently refers to this proposal as an alleged inspiration for its name.

Initially, the plan, in the late 1920s, was to implement the Cruzeiro with the equivalent of 10$000 (ten mil-réis), the currency being linked to the gold standard. However, due to the crash of 1929, the subsequent revolution of 1930 and the abandonment of the gold standard by the world in 1933, this project was abandoned, with the redenomination only taking place in 1942, with Cruzeiro having the equivalent of the circulating mil-réis.

Symbol

The cruzeiro broke with Portuguese and Brazilian traditions for the writing of currency amounts. Instead of using the double-stroke dollar sign (cifrão) as a thousands separator (as was the practice with reais) or as the decimal fraction separator (as Portugal adopted when it switched to the escudo and centavos), the cruzeiro followed its traditional notation for numbers in general, with period (".") and comma (",") used for those two functions, respectively.

The dollar sign was retained, but as part of the new currency symbol "Cr $" (two separate letters and a single-stroke dollar sign, with a space before the latter, to be written before the number, "whatever its amount". However, in subsequent years the two-stroke variant of the sign was often used too, and the space was usually omitted. Also, some typewriters and typefaces provided a typographic ligature "₢" (available in Unicode) to replace the "Cr".

Coins

Six denominations of coins were introduced in 1942: 10, 20 and 50 centavos, and ₢$1, ₢$2 and ₢$5. The centavos were initially struck in cupronickel, switching to aluminium bronze in 1943, whilst the cruzeiros were struck in aluminium bronze from the start. The ₢$5 was not struck after 1943.

First issue of standard circulating coins of the Cruzeiro (1942–1967)

Reverse	Obverse	Value	Minting period	Obverse description
100px	100px	₢$0.10	1942–1947	Portrays Getúlio Vargas
100px	100px	₢$0.20	1942–1948
100px	100px	₢$0.50	1942–1947
100px	100px	₢$1	1942-1956	Portrays a relief map of Brazil
100px	100px	₢$2
100px	100px	₢$5	1942–1943

Following the end of the Vargas Era, in 1947 and 1948 replacements for the 10, 20 and 50 centavos coins were issued that did not portray Getúlio Vargas on the obverse. The new designs featured busts of proeminent Brazilian people, along with the new president, Dutra.

Second issue of standard circulating coins of the Cruzeiro (1942–1967)

Reverse	Obverse	Value	Minting period	Obverse description
100px	100px	₢$0.10	1947–1955	Portrays José Bonifácio
100px	100px	₢$0.20	1948–1956	Portrays Ruy Barbosa
100px	100px	₢$0.50	1948–1956	Portrays Eurico Gaspar Dutra

A few more designs were later introduced in 1956 and 1957, which eventually made aluminium replace aluminium bronze in all the coins.

Third issue of standard circulating coins of the Cruzeiro (1942–1967)

Reverse	Obverse	Value	Minting period	Obverse description
100px	100px	₢$0.50	1956	Portrays the coat of arms of Brazil
100px	100px	₢$1
100px	100px	₢$2
100px	100px	₢$0.10	1956–1961
100px	100px	₢$0.20
100px	100px	₢$0.50	1957–1961
100px	100px	₢$1
100px	100px	₢$2

Coinage stopped production in 1961. In 1964, Law 4511 established the end of the cent and the issuance of coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 cruzeiros, with only coins in the denomination of 10, 20 and 50 cruzeiros came to be launched in 1965. Such coins would lose their value after a year of the establishment of the new Cruzeiro.

Fourth issue of standard circulating coins of the Cruzeiro (1942–1967)

Reverse	Obverse	Value	Minting period	Obverse description
100px	100px	₢$10	1965	Portrays a relief map of Brazil
100px	100px	₢$20
100px	100px	₢$50		Portrays the effigy of the Republic

Banknotes

The first banknotes were overprints on earlier mil réis notes, with denominations of ₢$5, ₢$10, ₢$20, ₢$50, ₢$100, ₢$200 and ₢$500. Regular issues of cruzeiro banknotes began in 1943 with the addition of ₢$1000 notes. ₢$1 and ₢$2 notes were introduced in 1944 and ceased production after 1958.

With the exception of the 1 cruzeiro banknote, issued only by American Bank Note Company, the other banknotes of this pattern were issued in second stamp by Thomas de la Rue, bear the words "2º estampa" with variations in the color of the obverse of the banknote, being the 5 cruzeiros banknotes issued until 1964 and the others issued until the entry into circulation of the cruzeiro novo.

The first banknotes of the standard were autographed, a custom that continued until the early 1950s, when signatures began to appear on microseals. The "Nota do Índio" and banknotes issued up to the end of the 1950s bear the words "No Tesouro Nacional se pagará ao portador a quantia de" with the value in full followed by the term "Valor recebido" at the end. Banknotes issued issued in 1960s by the American Bank Note Company and Thomas de la Rue in amounts from 5 to 5000 cruzeiros appear only with the terms "República dos Estados Unidos do Brasil", "Tesouro Nacional" and "Valor Legal" having the other aforementioned sayings suppressed.

• 1 cruzeiro anverso.jpeg

  ₢$1 note, featuring the Marquis of Tamandaré

• Dois Cruzeiros.jpg

  ₢$2 note, portraying the Duke of Caxias.

• Cinco Cruzeiros.jpg

  ₢$5 note, portraying the Baron of Rio Branco

In 1961, the third stamp of the 5 cruzeiros banknote, called "Nota do Índio", would be released experimentally by the Casa da Moeda do Brasil. The very limited print run of this banknote issued in the years 1961 and 1962, as well as its low intrinsic value, made this banknote a true souvenir quite collected by numismatists.

File:5-cruzeiros-1961.png

A ₢$5 banknote issued in 1961 portraying indigenous people, a jangada and a vitória régia

In 1962, Law 4190 established that Cruzeiro banknotes would have the words "República dos Estados Unidos do Brasil", "Tesouro Nacional" and "Valor Legal" on the obverse of the banknotes and established the creation of the ₢$5000 banknote, which was put into circulation in 1963. In December 1964, law 4511 established the end of the centavos, the creation of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 cruzeiros coins, as well as the creation of the ₢$10000 note, which would become the only banknote of the standard to be issued by the Central Bank of Brazil having the title "Banco Central" instead of the title "Tesouro Nacional" present in the other banknotes issued in this monetary standard.

The last banknotes of this standard had an equivalence stamp affixed from 1967 onwards with the corresponding value of the banknote in Cruzeiros Novos, being used provisionally in the transition between the banknotes produced abroad to new centavo coins that began to be minted from 1967 and the banknotes that would be produced mainly by Casa da Moeda do Brasil from 1970.

File:Dez Cruzeiros - Frente.jpg

₢$10 note, featuring Getúlio Vargas, with overstamp "1 centavo" or NCr$0.01 applied after 1967.

See also

• Peso
• Dollar
• Portuguese escudo

References

Brazilian cruzeiro

Preceded by: Brazilian Real (old) Ratio: 1 cruzeiro = 1000 réis

Currency of Brazil 1 November 1942 – 12 February 1967

Succeeded by: Cruzeiro novo Ratio: 1 cruzeiro novo = 1000 cruzeiros