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500 Cruzeiros 3rd edition
| Issuer | Banco Central do Brasil |
|---|---|
| Year | 1990 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Produced in polychrome intaglio and offset, the obverse presents a portrait vignette of naturalist and scientist Augusto Ruschi (1915–1986) at right, flanked by allegorical representations of Brazilian flora and fauna. A large rendition of Cattleya labiata warneri — the orchid most characteristic of Espírito Santo state and the largest-flowered species of its genus in Brazil — anchors the decorative composition. Denomination numerals and issuing authority inscriptions appear in the surrounding guilloche underprint. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 500 500 QUINHENTOS CRUZEIROS (Translation: 500 Five Hundred Cruzeiros) |
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| Comments |
Brazil's 500 cruzeiro note had a troubled final few years. By 1990, the country was deep into the hyperinflationary spiral that would eventually force the Collor administration to freeze private bank accounts in March of that year — one of the most drastic monetary interventions in Brazilian peacetime history. Notes of this denomination, which would have represented meaningful purchasing power just a few years earlier, were being spent like small change by the time this edition circulated.
The third edition designation under Pick 230 reflects Casa da Moeda's ongoing plate revisions to manage production costs and deter counterfeiting as denominations were repeatedly outpaced by inflation. The cruzeiro itself was abolished in 1990, replaced by the cruzeiro novo — though that name was quickly shortened back to cruzeiro, adding to the considerable confusion of the period.