Brazilian Real (BRL)

The currency of the world's fifth most populous and territorial nation is, at first glance, very young: officially to the Brazilian Real is not yet two decades old. However, if you dig deeper, it will become known that coins with this name in Brazil have been used since the XVII century.

History of the emergence of the Brazilian Real

With the discovery of Brazil by Portuguese colonizers in 1500 and its further exploration, extensive monetary relations began in the country. They were conducted both by natural exchange and with the help of various foreign coins, one of which, the Spanish real, took root here. In 1690 it became the official monetary unit of Brazil.

The period from 1942 to 1994 was quite painful for the Latin American country and its economy: national currencies were devalued 7 times. The inhabitants of Brazil had time to familiarize and say goodbye to such monetary signs as cruzeiro, new cruzeiro, cruzado and new cruzado, the first of which was reintroduced three times.

This charade was interrupted by the adoption of the reala in 1994, which has remained a fairly stable and reliable currency until now. Together with the introduction of the new monetary unit, there was an end to the hyperinflationwhich had plagued the country for more than half a century. The historical maximum of the real was recorded at the level of 1.2 U.S. dollars, in the very first years of the Brazilian currency's existence. The minimum was reached in 2002, on the eve of the presidential elections in the South American country, when the real was equal to $3.79. Since then, the exchange rate of the Brazilian currency has strengthened more than twice, thanks to the effective stabilization policy of the state authorities.

It must be said that in the economic science of Brazil it is common to refer to the coins circulating before 1942 as "flightThe Portuguese word for "real" is the plural of "real". The reason for this is that up to that time very large sums of money were in circulation.

Brazilian real denominations

Currently, there are banknotes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 reals, as well as coins in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 centavos and 1 real. In addition, the legal tender in Brazil, are commemorative coins (both ordinary and precious metals) in denominations from 10 centavos to 20 reals. International designation of the Brazilian real under ISO code 4217 - BRL.

Brazilian Real banknotes.