Brazilian real (old)

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Brazilian real

real (Portuguese)
500 réis Treasury note from 1880
Unit
Plural	réis
Symbol	Rs$‎
Denominations
Superunit
1000	mil réis
1,000,000	conto de réis
Banknotes
Freq. used	500, 1$000, 2$000, 5$000, 10$000, 20$000, 30$000, 50$000, 100$000, 200$000, 500$000
Rarely used	1:000$000 (conto de réis)
Coins
Freq. used	20, 50, 100, 200, 400, 1$000, 2$000
Rarely used	40, 80, 300, 320, 960
Demographics
Date of withdrawal	1 November 1942[1]
Replaced by	Cruzeiro (1st version)
User(s)	Empire of Brazil United States of Brazil (First Brazilian Republic and Vargas Dictatorship)
Issuance
Central bank	Thesouro Nacional
Printer	American Bank Note Company
Mint	Casa da Moeda do Brasil
Valuation
Inflation	1.5% (1880) 41% (1890) 13% (1900) 6% (1930)
Source	Consumer price index
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The first official currency of Brazil was the real (pronounced [ʁeˈaw]; pl. réis), with the symbol Rs$. As the currency of the Portuguese empire, it was in use in Brazil from the earliest days of the colonial period, and remained in use until 1942, when it was replaced by the cruzeiro.

The name "real" was resurrected in 1994 for the new currency unit (but with the new plural form "reais"). This currency is still in use. One modern real is equivalent to 2.75 × 10¹⁸ (2.75 quintillion) of the old réis.

The name comes from the Portuguese word real (in the sense of "royal" or "regal") and was borrowed from a Portuguese currency previously used in Brazil.^{[citation needed]}

The dollar-like sign in the currency's symbol (and in the symbols of all other Brazilian currencies), called cifrão in Portuguese, was always written with two vertical strokes () rather than one.