Do You Know What Brazil's First Currency Was? Check Out the Evolution That Came From Bartering to the Real Plan, A Financial History of the Country Itself

Do You Know What Brazil’s First Currency Was? Check Out the Evolution That Came From Bartering to the Real Plan, A Financial History of the Country Itself

Written by Ruth Rodrigues

Published on 15/07/2025 at 20:06

Antes do real, o Brasil passou por uma longa jornada de transformações monetárias. Entenda qual foi a primeira moeda do Brasil e como as mudanças econômicas moldaram o dinheiro brasileiro ao longo da história.

2 people reacted to this.

Before the Real, Brazil Went Through a Long Journey of Monetary Transformations. Understand What Was the First Currency of Brazil and How Economic Changes Shaped Brazilian Money Throughout History.

Since July 1, 1994, the real is the official currency of Brazil. Created as part of the Real Plan, its implementation marked the end of a period of hyperinflation that had dominated the economic landscape in previous decades. The new currency brought stability and established itself as one of the strongest in Latin America.

But the path to the real was long. The history of currency in Brazil began long before 1994, with origins that date back to the colonial period.

The Beginning of It All: The Portuguese Real, or Réis

The first currency to officially circulate on Brazilian soil was the Portuguese real, more commonly known as réis. Its introduction dates back to the 16th century, when Brazil was still a colony of Portugal.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

The Currency in Brazil After Independence

Even after Independence, proclaimed in 1822, Brazil continued to use the réis as currency. During the reign of Dom Pedro I, the first efforts to nationalize the currency emerged.

The new emissions began to display the coat of arms of the Empire and the image of the emperor, marking an important step in building the identity of the new Brazilian state.

Rare Currency from Brazil — 500 réis. Source: Wikipedia

The Bank of Brazil, founded in 1808, played a central role in issuing paper currency. Despite this, metallic coins continued to be predominant in the daily lives of the population.

The regency period, following Dom Pedro I’s abdication, brought attempts to reform the monetary system to light.

However, the scenario was complex: the country faced a legacy of Portuguese debts, persistent inflation, and a disorganized circulation of coins.

The Monetary Transformations Throughout the 20th Century

The Brazilian currency went through various changes between the end of the réis and the arrival of the real.

These changes occurred largely in response to inflation and economic crises. Here’s the sequence of official currencies in Brazil:

Réis (until 1942)
Cruzeiro (1942–1986)
Cruzado (1986–1989)
Cruzado Novo (1989–1990)
Cruzeiro (new version, 1990–1993)
Cruzeiro Real (1993–1994)
Real (since 1994)

These constant changes reflected the attempt to control prices and restore the population’s confidence in a functional monetary system.

The Turnaround with the Real Plan

It was during the government of Itamar Franco, coordinated by then Minister of Finance Fernando Henrique Cardoso, that Brazil took a decisive step to stabilize its economy.

The Real Plan was not only the creation of a new currency but a set of actions to curb inflation, reorganize public accounts, and restore the purchasing power of the population.

The real currency was born strong. Its initial value was pegged to the dollar, facilitating the transition and increasing the confidence of Brazilians.

With information from Revista Forum.

0 Comments

most recent

older Most voted

Do You Know What Brazil’s First Currency Was? Check Out the Evolution That Came From Bartering to the Real Plan, A Financial History of the Country Itself

Before the Real, Brazil Went Through a Long Journey of Monetary Transformations. Understand What Was the First Currency of Brazil and How Economic Changes Shaped Brazilian Money Throughout History.

The Beginning of It All: The Portuguese Real, or Réis

The Currency in Brazil After Independence

The Monetary Transformations Throughout the 20th Century

The Turnaround with the Real Plan

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Four times faster than the Concorde, capable of taking passengers from New York to London in less than an hour at Mach 5.5, and with an engine that switches from turbojet to ramjet mid-flight at Mach 3.5, the Hermeus Quarterhorse went from paper to its first flight in just 19 months.

Under nearly 2 kilometers of ice in Antarctica, scientists have discovered an ancient landscape sculpted by rivers up to 60 million years ago, the size of Wales, preserved as a time capsule that could help predict the advance of ice towards the ocean.

She started by collecting oyster shells from restaurants and today she has already accumulated more than 10 tons to restore reefs, recover coastal habitats, and demonstrate how a common waste can become a tool for ocean conservation.

SpaceX will dock a $843 million vehicle to the International Space Station to push a nearly 420-ton laboratory against the atmosphere and make the debris fall in a controlled manner into the ocean.

The end of the traditional bathroom cabinet: new trend saves space, makes cleaning easier, and gives the environment a more modern look in 2026

Forget the brick: A company from Santa Catarina has created a recycled plastic block that eliminates the need for cement and mortar, assembled like interlocking modules, and according to the manufacturer, is more resistant than conventional brick and concrete block.

Already authorized in some European countries, the so-called plastic heart adapts to each patient’s physical activities and, according to scientists, could transform the treatment of heart diseases in the coming decades and increase survival chances around the world.

The oil company Eni discovered a giant gas field at the bottom of the Indonesian sea with an estimated volume in trillions of cubic feet.

Do You Know What Brazil’s First Currency Was? Check Out the Evolution That Came From Bartering to the Real Plan, A Financial History of the Country Itself

Before the Real, Brazil Went Through a Long Journey of Monetary Transformations. Understand What Was the First Currency of Brazil and How Economic Changes Shaped Brazilian Money Throughout History.

The Beginning of It All: The Portuguese Real, or Réis

The Currency in Brazil After Independence

The Monetary Transformations Throughout the 20th Century

The Turnaround with the Real Plan

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Four times faster than the Concorde, capable of taking passengers from New York to London in less than an hour at Mach 5.5, and with an engine that switches from turbojet to ramjet mid-flight at Mach 3.5, the Hermeus Quarterhorse went from paper to its first flight in just 19 months.

Under nearly 2 kilometers of ice in Antarctica, scientists have discovered an ancient landscape sculpted by rivers up to 60 million years ago, the size of Wales, preserved as a time capsule that could help predict the advance of ice towards the ocean.

She started by collecting oyster shells from restaurants and today she has already accumulated more than 10 tons to restore reefs, recover coastal habitats, and demonstrate how a common waste can become a tool for ocean conservation.

SpaceX will dock a $843 million vehicle to the International Space Station to push a nearly 420-ton laboratory against the atmosphere and make the debris fall in a controlled manner into the ocean.

The end of the traditional bathroom cabinet: new trend saves space, makes cleaning easier, and gives the environment a more modern look in 2026

Seven friends went to test metal detectors in a waterlogged field and found 2,584 silver coins buried almost 1,000 years ago: treasure valued at R$ 31 million includes pieces from William the Conqueror and Harold II and has become the most valuable discovery in England’s history.

A farmer left 5 heads of cattle on an island and ‘magic’ happened: the herd turned into 2,000 animals in 130 years, survived isolated in a volcanic territory of 55 km², and developed wild behavior revealed by genetics.

While the Senate stalls the end of the 6×1 schedule, a supermarket takes the lead and delights its employees by adopting a 5×2 schedule with two days off, testing reduced wear and tear, and maintaining salaries even as the workweek is set to decrease from 44 to 40 hours.

Young person creates system that transforms plastic into gasoline and even says: ‘people call it trash; I call it a resource’; 22-year-old self-taught individual goes viral for using pyrolysis to convert waste into fuel on a planet that produces 440 million tons of plastic per year.

The end of the traditional bathroom cabinet: new trend saves space, makes cleaning easier, and gives the environment a more modern look in 2026

Forget the brick: A company from Santa Catarina has created a recycled plastic block that eliminates the need for cement and mortar, assembled like interlocking modules, and according to the manufacturer, is more resistant than conventional brick and concrete block.

Already authorized in some European countries, the so-called plastic heart adapts to each patient’s physical activities and, according to scientists, could transform the treatment of heart diseases in the coming decades and increase survival chances around the world.

The oil company Eni discovered a giant gas field at the bottom of the Indonesian sea with an estimated volume in trillions of cubic feet.