1000 Cruzeiros

By 1992, Brazil was cycling through currency denominations at a rate that made long-term planning nearly impossible. The cruzeiro had been reintroduced in 1990 under the Collor Plan — itself a desperate measure that included the temporary freezing of private bank accounts — only to be replaced by the cruzeiro real in 1993. This 1000-cruzeiro piece represents the inflating denominations of a country where the annual rate would peak near 2,500% in 1993.

The short two-year window before redenomination keeps circulated survivors of this type in genuine abundance, but uncirculated examples are less common than the mintage figures suggest.