20 Mil Reis

The Banco Emissor da Bahia was one of several regional banks authorized under Brazil's 1888–1890 banking reforms, a chaotic liberalization period known as the Encilhamento, during which the imperial and early republican governments granted sweeping note-issuing privileges to provincial banks. The predictable result was overissue, speculation, and rapid inflation. Many of these institutions failed within a few years, and their notes became worthless before the decade was out.

Notes from this bank are scarce in any grade — the Bahia issuer had a short operational window, and surviving paper from the period has suffered badly from Brazil's climate.