500 Cruzeiros Thesouro Nacional, 1st print, Autographed

Brazil's wartime finances in 1943 were under serious strain — the country had entered World War II on the Allied side in August 1942, and the Vargas government was simultaneously managing inflation, currency controls, and the costs of mobilizing the Força Expedicionária Brasileira. The Tesouro Nacional, rather than the Banco do Brasil, served as the formal issuing authority here, a distinction that mattered constitutionally even if the notes circulated identically.

The American Bank Note Company contract placed production firmly in New York, which was not unusual for Brazilian high-denomination paper at this period. "Autographed" in the catalog designation refers to the hand-signed authorization signatures on the face — a requirement that distinguished this first print from later mechanically countersigned runs.