1 Real Central Bank

Brazil's bimetallic 1 Real was introduced in 2002 as the country was emerging from a severe currency crisis — the real had lost nearly half its value against the dollar in 2001–2002, driven by contagion fears surrounding Argentina's collapse and domestic fiscal uncertainty. The coin replaced a note denomination that had become impractical to produce at low face value.

The Banco Central adopted the bimetallic format partly as an anti-counterfeiting measure, following widespread forgery problems that had plagued earlier single-metal issues.