1000 Réis Anchieta, small type

Issued to mark the tercentenary of José de Anchieta's death, this coin commemorates the Jesuit missionary who co-founded the settlements that became São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian government had been pushing for Anchieta's beatification since the early twentieth century — Rome wouldn't formally beatify him until 2014 — and the coin arrived decades ahead of that resolution, a piece of national hagiography minted in aluminum bronze.

The "small type" designation distinguishes it from a larger-diameter version struck concurrently. Both types circulated together, an unusual parallel issue that generated collector confusion almost immediately after release.