Some beautiful birds from a period of financial transition in Brazil.

Brazil

Last time we looked at history in Brazil, for a coin from 1835, was four years after Pedro abdicated. His son, Pedro II was king (after being instilled as such at the age of 5). Pedro II remained as king until a military coup in 1889. This coup led to the establishment of the first republic. The following hundred years were marked by periods of peace and periods of instability. The result is that the following the handover of power by the military in 1985, Brazil is now in its “sixth republic“.

Megadiversity

(Photograph of The Amazon, as seen from the sky. Image from CaminhosLanguages.com).

Brazil is known as a “Megadiverse” country. Megadiverse countries only represent about 10% of the world’s surface, but they “host at least 70% of the planet’s terrestrial biological diversity, including more than two-thirds of all non-fish vertebrate species and three-quarters of all species of higher plants”, according to Iberdrola.

There are 17 megadiverse countries, which are nations with extreme biodiversity:

• Australia
• Brazil
• China
• Colombia
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Ecuador
• India
• Indonesia
• Madagascar
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• Papua New Guinea
• Peru
• Philippines
• South Africa
• United States of America
• Venezuela

Five of these countries, including Brazil, are in the Amazon. South America’s Amazon contains nearly a third of all the tropical rainforests left on Earth. The Amazon is the largest forest formation on the planet. Despite covering only around 1% of the planet’s surface, the Amazon rainforest is home to 10% of all the wildlife species we know about – and probably a lot that we don’t know yet.

According to the World Economic Forum, some of Brazil’s claims to fame on this list include:

• Contains 20% of the planet’s freshwater
• Home to the largest wetland, woodlands, open fields, savannahs, and the rainforest
• 43,893 plant species
• 712 types of mammal
• 1,900 different birds
• 751 types of reptile
• 978 species of amphibian

These figures are among the highest in the world in each of their categories.

Currency

Brazilian currency changed regularly in the 20th century:

• 1942: “Cruzeiro” created, worth 1,000 Réis, with 100 “Centavos” to the Cruzeiro. Expressed as Cr$ 4.750,40 (four thousand, seven hundred and fifty “cruzeiros” and forty “centavos”)
• 1964: Centavos abolished
• 1967: “Cruzeiro Novo” (New Cruzeiro), worth 1,000 Cruzeiro. Centavos reinstated. Expressed as NCr$ 4.75 (four “cruzeiros novos” and seventy-five “centavos”)
• 1970: Dropped “Novo”. NCr$ 4.75 expressed as Cr$ 4.75
• 1984: abolished Centavos (again). Cr$ 4.75 (four “cruzeiros” and seventy-five “centavos”), came to be written as Cr$ 4, dropping the remaining digits.
• 1986: “Cruzado” worth 1,000 Cruzeiro. Centavos reinstated. Expressed as Cz$ 4.750,40
• 1989: “Cruzado Novo” worth 1,000 Cruzado. Centavos retained. Written as NCz$ 4.750,40
• 1990: “Cruzeiro” worth 1,000 “Cruzado Novo”. Centavos retained. Expressed as Cr$ 4.750,40
• 1993 (1st August): “Cruzeiro Real”, worth 1,000 “Cruzado Novo”. Centavos retained. Expressed as CR$ 4.750,40
• 1994 (7th January): “Real”, worth 2,750 “Cruzeiro Real”. Centavo maintained. Expressed as R$ 4.750,40.

The Real is still in use in 2025.

That is quite a lot of inflation over 50 years. Thanks to BCB.gov.br for the concise list. Here is a page, still from bcb.gov.br, on the monetary plan which led to the introduction of the Real.

Obverse

The obverse contains the country name above and year to left, with the value in the centre above the denomination “CR$” in ferns. The coin makes interesting use of recessed space (the rectangle above the ferns and below the country) and incuse text.

Reverse

The reverse contains two Macaw parrots, facing left, on a branch, with impressions of fern leaves above and below. The word “Arara” to the right, is Portuguese for “Macaw”. (The coin SHOULD have detail for both bird’s faces – mine has evidently been circulated!)

The Macaw is a colourful South American bird. In fact, there are 17 different types of Macaw, all found in Central and South America. Macaws are distinguished from other parrots by the patches of bare skin on their faces. There are two types of Macaws, broadly differentiated by size. Mini Macaws, like the Hahn’s Macaw, reach 30-35cm (12-14 inches), weighing around 150g (5.3oz). Large Macaws, up to the Hyacinth Macaw, can reach nearly 1 metre (3.3ft) and weigh up to 1.3kg (46oz, but chicks can reach 1.7 kg (60oz) during peak weight period.

Macaws are social birds, who typically form strong, monogamous pair bonds and can be seen flying in large flocks. Some macaws can live for 60 – 80 years or more. Many macaws are endangered or even extinct in the wild. This is due largely to deforestation and illegal bird trade.

Here is a photo of a Macaw with a park ranger I took at a park / sanctuary in Australia.

What is your favourite colourful bird on a coin? Did you notice that I used a colourful bird on a coin in the cover image of the site? You can see all the cover image coins on the About page.