500 Mil Réis Caixa de Conversão, Provisional Issue

The Caixa de Conversão was a short-lived exchange stabilization fund established in 1906 under Finance Minister Leopoldo de Bulhões, designed to peg the milréis to gold and halt the currency depreciation that had plagued Brazil since the Encilhamento speculation boom of the early 1890s. These provisional notes were issued against gold deposits at a fixed rate — a deliberate structural constraint that distinguished them from ordinary Treasury paper.

The Banque de France commission is notable. Brazilian monetary authorities were clearly signaling international credibility through the choice of printer, and Crosbie's engraving work reflects the high-relief intaglio standards of French state printing of the period. The fund was dissolved in 1914 when the gold standard mechanism became untenable following the outbreak of war in Europe.