Brazilian Money and Its Anti-Counterfeit Features

A First Look at Brazilian Money

The Brazilian currency is the real (pronounced “he-OWL” ). The plural form is reais (pronounced “he-EYES").The word means both "royal" and "real".

The symbol for the real is R$. Notice that in written prices, cents (centavos, pronounced “sen-TAH-vus”) are indicated by commas, while thousands and millions are indicated by periods. So:

• R$ 25,00 (also R$ 25) = 25 reais
• R$ 0,99 = 99 centavos
• R$ 47,75 = 47 reais and 75 centavos, but often people will just say the numbers.
• R$ 1.500,00 (or R$ 1.500) = a thousand five hundred reais.

Brazilian Bills and Coins

Banco Central do Brasil (or BC, the Brazilian Federal Bank) has an online image gallery featuring:

• Banknotes
• Stainless Steel Coins
• Coins Made of Other Materials

There is also a polymer R$10 banknote in circulation in Brazil that is not featured on the pages above. You can see it on this online Anti-Counterfeiting Guide.

Anti-Counterfeiting Features

Recent cases of counterfeit money have made Brazilians acutely aware of the importance of checking if the money on their hands is, well, real. Don't be surprised to see every other salesperson checking the bill you just handed them - do it too.

Banco Central has put together a very informative online guide about the anti-counterfeiting features of real banknotes (see link below). Unfortunately, it is only available in the Portuguese version of their website, but you will probably find the photos are helpful anyhow.

Here's how to use it:

1. After you open the guide, click on "Reconheça o Real".
2. Click on the banknote you want to see.
3. Scroll around to view details about each feature.
4. Click on the link to the back of each banknote.
5. Click on "Voltar" ("Go Back") for the menu.

Banco Central Anti-Counterfeiting Guide

Basically, the Guide highlights the five main security items on a real banknote:

1. Paper texture: There should be a certain roughness (aspereza) to it.
2. Watermark (Marca d'Água): The Brazilian flag or the Republic effigy, for example
3. Latent Image (Imagem Latente): The BC site points out that some of these can only be seen with the help of a microscope or UV light. But some are visible when you hold up the bill against strong light or when you hold it at eye-level in a well-lit place.
4. Coinciding Images (Registro Coincidente): They should be a perfect match when you fold the bill in half and look at it against the light.
5. High Relief (Alto-Relevo): On the left end of the front side, every authentic bill has tactile bars (marca tátil) to make them more easily identifiable by people with visual impairments – except the polymer R$10 bill, which has an altogether distinct feel to it anyway. Other areas in high relief are, for example, the Republic effigy's forehead and the animals' heads on the reverse.