2 Cruzeiros Thesouro Nacional, 1st print

The two signature combinations reflect a pivotal shift in Brazilian economic policy. Oswaldo Aranha served as Finance Minister under Vargas and returned to that post briefly in 1953-54, his second stint ending abruptly with Vargas's suicide in August 1954. Lucas Lopes succeeded through the subsequent administrations, overseeing the early stages of what would become the Plano de Metas under Kubitschek.

ABNC produced this series at a time when Brazil was contracting heavily with New York printers — domestic intaglio capacity was still limited before the Casa da Moeda expanded its own securities printing operations in the late 1950s. Series boundaries between the two signature pairs allow reasonably precise dating within what the catalog lists as a four-year window.