Catalog
20 Mil Réis Caixa de Conversão, Provisional Issue
| Issuer | Caixa de Conversão do Brasil |
|---|---|
| Year | 1907 |
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| Engraver(s) | Émile Crosbie |
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| Obverse description | Printed in green and crimson using a combination of intaglio (chalcography) and lithography, the design mirrors that of the tenth emission of the Tesouro Nacional (P#42) in a distinct colour scheme. At left, a vignette of a woman representing the Allegory of the Republic, surmounted by a child figure personifying the Allegory of Agriculture; at right, the same child allegory appears within a white medallion bearing a watermark of a female head in profile. Stamp, serial, and order numbers are printed in red. |
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| Reverse lettering | 20 20 REPUBLICA DOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DO BRAZIL VINTE MIL RÉIS GEO_DUVAL_INV. ET FEC. EMILE CROSBIE_SC. (Translation: Twenty Thousand Réis Republic of the United States of Brazil Georges Duval Inv. Et Del. Jules Guyot Sculp) |
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| Comments |
The Caixa de Conversão was a short-lived monetary stabilization mechanism, established in 1906 under Finance Minister Leopoldo de Bulhões to fix the milréis against gold at a rate of 15 pence — a deliberate reversal of Brazil's prolonged depreciation cycle following the Encilhamento speculation crisis of the early 1890s. The institution issued notes directly convertible into gold certificates, a novelty for Brazilian monetary practice at the time.
Duval and Crosbie worked for the Banque de France's printing arm, and their involvement gave this provisional series a quality of manufacture markedly above what Brazilian issuers had typically commissioned. The Caixa itself was dissolved in 1914 when wartime gold flows made the convertibility peg impossible to maintain.