5 Cruzeiros Thesouro Nacional, 1st print, Autographed

Brazil's wartime finances forced a practical compromise: the Treasury, not the Banco do Brasil or a central issuing authority, put its name directly on circulating paper. The 1943 series was commissioned from ABNC during a period when domestic printing capacity couldn't meet demand, a situation common across Latin America during the Second World War.

"Autographed" in Brazilian philatelic terminology means the signatures were applied by hand rather than engraved or printed — this first print carries manuscript signatures, distinguishing it from later issues in the same series where facsimile signatures replaced them. Hand-signed notes from ABNC runs are generally fewer in number, since the signing process was a logistical bottleneck.