Catalog
5 Mil Reis
| Issuer | Thesouro Nacional |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | IMPERIO DO BRAZIL CINCO MIL REIS VALOR RECEBIDO NO THESOURO NACIONAL SE PAGARÁ AO PORTADOR DESTA A QUANTIA DE CINCO 5 |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a single brown-ochre tone and covered entirely by a dense, symmetrical pattern of interlocking guilloche rosettes and floral lathe-work, creating a rich geometric underprint across the full field. At centre, a circular medallion bears a globe device surrounded by the legend IMPERIO DO BRAZIL. Large numeral 5 devices appear at the top centre and lower centre, and the printer's imprint AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY NEW YORK is set in small letterpress at the lower left and lower right margins. |
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| Comments |
The Thesouro Nacional's reliance on the American Bank Note Company for this series reflects Brazil's chronic shortage of domestic printing infrastructure in the 1880s — a period when the empire was financing abolition payments to slaveholders and managing severe fiscal strain simultaneously. ABNC held the Brazilian treasury contract for decades, and the consistency of their intaglio work across successive issues created a de facto visual standard for imperial paper currency.
The "A" prefix in the Pick reference signals an addendum listing, meaning this note was catalogued after the main Brazil sequence was already established — a common fate for earlier imperial issues that took time to surface in sufficient numbers for systematic documentation.