5 Cruzeiros Reais

The cruzeiro real was an intermediate currency — never meant to last. Introduced in August 1993 as Brazil lurched through its seventh monetary reform in under a decade, it served as a bridge while economists finalized the Plano Real. That plan launched in July 1994, replacing the cruzeiro real at a rate of 2,750 to 1 new real. Coins of this denomination were obsolete within months of their first strike.