Brazil Real

Brazil uses the real as its official currency. Each real is then divided into 100 centavos. The currency is issued by the Central Bank of Brazil and is issued in the form of banknotes and coins. The currency is denoted by the symbols R$ and on the international markets as BRL. Coins are issued in the form of 1 centavo (though this is hardly ever used in reality), 5, 10, 25, 50 centavos as well as a R$1. Notes are in the form of R$2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100. The R$100 notes are seen only infrequently and are not desirable to have, since you may experience real problems in terms of changing them. The plural of real is not reals, but rather reasis.

History of the Real

The real was first introduced in Brazil as early as 1690, when it was brought in by the Portuguese who colonised this area, but even prior to that the Dutch had issued reals when they occupied part of Brazil in the 1850's. Interestingly, when the real came into being, it was not divided into centavados, but simply the real. In 1942, the Brazilian currency switched over to the cruzeiro. This circulated in the form of two different currencies, both called the cruzeiro, until 1986, then it came back again in 1990, until 1993.

The switch over to different currencies with different names or types of issue, was the result of inflation and rampant economic problems. The real as we know it today was introduced in 1994. Originally it seemed a relatively stable currency, then experienced significant depreciation in 1999 and this carried on, with inflation ever present, until a new low was reached in 2002. But since this time it has gained strength, particularly against the US dollar and this seems to be continuing, or at least it is not experiencing devaluation.