500 Réis Independence Centennial

Brazil's Independence Centennial of 1922 was marked by a sprawling international exposition in Rio de Janeiro — the Exposição Internacional do Centenário — which ran from September through March of the following year and drew pavilions from dozens of nations. This coin was issued specifically for that occasion, one of several commemorative denominations released that year as the young republic staged its most ambitious public spectacle to date.

The aluminium bronze composition was a deliberate departure from the silver used in earlier réis coinage, reflecting both postwar metal economics and a broader shift in Brazilian monetary policy that would accelerate through the 1920s.