5 Mil Réis Thesouro Nacional, 19th. Print

The American Bank Note Company held Brazil's high-value note contracts for decades, but the 5 Mil Réis series (Pick 29) ran across an unusually long window — from the mid-1920s through the early 1940s — with minimal design changes, reflecting how stable, or rather how stagnant, Brazil's currency administration was during a period that actually included the 1930 revolution that brought Getúlio Vargas to power.

Robert Savage was one of ABNC's most productive staff engravers of the period, with credits across multiple Latin American series. The Mil Réis itself was abolished in 1942 when Brazil redenominated at 1,000:1, introducing the Cruzeiro — making the final issues of this type among the last notes ever denominated in that unit.