200 Mil Réis Thesouro Nacional, 6th print

This note sits at one of the more compressed moments in Brazilian monetary history: 1889 is the year the Empire collapsed. Dom Pedro II was deposed in November, and the Republic proclaimed almost immediately — meaning notes bearing imperial treasury authority were being issued and circulated right up to the regime change, then abruptly rendered obsolete within months of printing.

The American Bank Note Company had been producing Brazilian paper currency since the 1870s, and this sixth print continues that relationship. Victor Meirelles — better known as the painter of the monumental *Primeira Missa no Brasil* — contributed designs to this series, an unusual crossover between fine arts patronage and commercial intaglio work that the ABNC executed from its New York facilities.

Surviving examples frequently show fold stress along the horizontal centerline, consistent with the folded-storage practice common in Brazilian retail trade at the time.