Brazilian cruzeiro (1942–1967)

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The (first) cruzeiro (Cr$ or C$) was the official

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

The cruzeiro was divided into 100 centavos, a convention that persisted through all subsequent Brazilian currencies, but in the first cruzeiro, values below Cr$0.10 were never issued because coins of less than Rs 100 had not been issued since 1935^[a].

The original plan, dating from the late 1920s, was to introduce a cruzeiro worth Rs 10$000 (ten

On 1 November 1942 the real was replaced by a new currency, the "cruzeiro", officially worth Rs 1$000 (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.[1] Some were overstamped with the amount in cruzeiros. New cruzeiro banknotes were printed starting in 1943.

By 1967 devaluation (

The name cruzeiro for the Brazilian currency was proposed in 1926, by Brazilian economist Carlos Inglês de Sousa (1882–1948).^{[citation needed]} The first editorial of the Brazilian weekly magazine Cruzeiro apparently refers to this proposal as an alleged inspiration for its name.^[4][5]

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

Six denominations of coin were introduced in 1942: Cr$0.10, Cr$0.20 and Cr$0.50, and Cr$1, Cr$2 and Cr$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 Cr$5 was not struck after 1943.

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

Reverse	Obverse	Value	Diameter	Minting period	Obverse description
		Cr$0.10	17 mm	1942–1947	Portrays Getúlio Vargas
		Cr$0.20	19 mm	1942–1948
		Cr$0.50	21 mm	1942–1947
		Cr$1	23 mm	1942-1956	Portrays a relief map of Brazil
		Cr$2	25 mm
		Cr$5	27 mm	1942–1943

Following the end of the Vargas Era, in 1947 and 1948 replacements for the Cr$0.10, Cr$0.20 and Cr$0.50 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	Diameter	Minting period	Obverse description
		Cr$0.10	17 mm	1947–1955	Portrays José Bonifácio
		Cr$0.20	19 mm	1948–1956	Portrays Ruy Barbosa
		Cr$0.50	21 mm	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. In 1956, aluminum-bronze coins were issued in the amounts of 50 centavos, 1 cruzeiro and 2 cruzeiros, taking advantage of old aluminum-bronze pieces that were used to issue the 10, 20 and 50 centavos coins respectively. In 1957, such values also began to be issued in aluminum. Coins dated up to 1961 would be minted in such denominations.

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

Reverse	Obverse	Value	Diameter	Minting period	Obverse description
		Cr$0.50	17 mm	1956	Portrays the coat of arms of Brazil
		Cr$1	19 mm
		Cr$2	21 mm
		Cr$0.10	17 mm	1956–1961
		Cr$0.20	19 mm
		Cr$0.50	21 mm	1957–1961
		Cr$1	23 mm
		Cr$2	25 mm

In 1964, Law 4511 established the end of the cent and the issuance of coins of Cr$1, Cr$2, Cr$5, Cr$10, Cr$20, Cr$50, Cr$100, Cr$200 and Cr$500, with only coins in the denomination of Cr$10, Cr$20 and Cr$50 came to be launched in 1965.

Such coins lost their value in February 1968, a year after the introduction of the cruzeiro novo, having a shorter survival in circulation than the banknotes of equivalent value, not being directly replaced by the equivalent coins of the cruzeiro novo.

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

Reverse	Obverse	Value	Diameter	Minting period	Obverse description
		Cr$10	23 mm	1965	Portrays a relief map of Brazil
		Cr$20	25 mm
		Cr$50	17 mm		Portrays the effigy of the Republic

The first banknotes were overprints on earlier mil réis notes, with denominations of Cr$5, Cr$10, Cr$20, Cr$50, Cr$100, Cr$200 and Cr$500. Regular issues of cruzeiro banknotes began in 1943 with the addition of Cr$1,000 notes. Cr$1 and Cr$2 notes were introduced in 1944 and ceased production after 1958.

With the exception of the Cr$ 1 banknote, produced only by

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 in 1960s by the

• 
  Cr$1 note, featuring the Marquis of Tamandaré
• 
  Cr$2 note, portraying the Duke of Caxias.
• 
  Cr$5 note, portraying the

  Baron of Rio Branco

In 1961, the third stamp of the Cr$5 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.

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 issuing of the Cr$5,000 banknote, which was put into circulation in 1963. In December 1964, law 4511 established the end of the centavos, the creation of Cr$1, Cr$2, Cr$5, Cr$10, Cr$20, Cr$50, Cr$100, Cr$200 and Cr$500 coins, as well as the issuing of the Cr$10,000 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

• Peso
• Dollar
• Portuguese escudo