20 Mil Réis Thesouro Nacional, 2nd print

Brazil's Thesouro Nacional turned to Perkins, Bacon & Petch at a moment when the London firm's steel-plate intaglio process was considered the global benchmark for document security — the same house had printed early stamps for Britain's Penny Black issue just two years prior. The 1842 contract was part of a broader effort by the imperial government to replace locally produced notes that had proved vulnerable to counterfeiting since the Banco do Brasil's collapse in 1829 left Brazil's paper currency in a precarious state.

The "2nd print" designation distinguishes this issue from an earlier Perkins run of the same denomination, reflecting revised contract terms rather than a design overhaul. Watermarking was the principal security measure — no serial numbering system of the sophistication later adopted.