10 Centavos

These stainless steel 10 centavos pieces belong to the cruzado series, introduced in February 1986 when the Sarney government launched the Plano Cruzado — a heterodox stabilization program that froze prices and replaced the cruzeiro at a ratio of 1,000 to one. The plan produced an immediate consumption boom, which briefly made it wildly popular before collapsing under suppressed inflation by late 1986.

The cruzado itself was abandoned in 1989, meaning this denomination had an effective circulating life of roughly three years.