5000 Brazilian Cruzeiros Banknote (Tiradentes Blue Type)

5,000 Cruzeiros Mil Reis (Issued 1963)

Withdrawn from circulation following Brazil’s sweeping monetary reform of 1967, when the cruzeiro was replaced by the new cruzeiro at a rate of 1,000 to one, the 5,000 Cruzeiros note of 1963 was rendered obsolete as part of a broader effort to combat the severe inflation that had plagued the Brazilian economy throughout the early 1960s. Issued under the Tesouro Nacional — the national treasury — rather than a central bank, this note belongs to a series that bore explicit reference to the historic 1833–1850 Thesouro Nacional issues, lending it a formal institutional character rooted in Brazil’s imperial monetary tradition. Printed by the American Bank Note Company, it represents one of the final high-denomination cruzeiro issues before the currency’s decimation and replacement.

On the front, the note is dominated by an engraved portrait of Tiradentes — Joaquim José da Silva Xavier — the celebrated eighteenth-century Brazilian revolutionary and martyr, whose name appears in small lettering directly beneath his portrait at the lower right. His image is rendered in a finely detailed intaglio style, showing a bearded man in period dress set within an oval vignette framed by intricate guilloché border work. The overall colour palette of the obverse is a muted combination of grey-blue and rose-pink, with the central panel featuring elaborate rosette and lathe-work patterns in pink ink surrounding the large bold numeral “5000” printed in dark ink at the centre. The heading “REPÚBLICA DOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DO BRASIL” runs across the top of the note in a serif typeface, while the Tesouro Nacional seal appears in dark ink just above the central denomination panel. The text “CINCO MIL CRUZEIROS” and “VALOR LEGAL” are printed in a bold banner at the lower centre, confirming the note’s face value and legal tender status. The series designation reads “ESTAMPA 1A / SÉRIE 198A” and appears twice on the face, once above the central vignette and once within the portrait panel. The serial number 026460 is printed in red numerals in two positions — upper right and lower left. Two signatures appear at the bottom of the note, attributed to the Diretor Caixa de Amortização and the Ministro da Fazenda respectively. The denomination “5000” is repeated in large numerals at all four corners and vertically along both side margins.

The reverse is printed entirely in a deep rose-red ink and features a large central engraved vignette depicting a historical scene captioned “TIRADENTES ANTE O CARRASCO” — Tiradentes before his executioner — showing multiple figures in period costume within an interior setting, rendered with considerable detail in the intaglio tradition. The scene is framed by wide decorative side panels filled with repeating guilloché patterns incorporating the numeral “5000” printed multiple times in stacked vertical arrangements on both the left and right margins. The heading “REPÚBLICA DOS” appears at the top centre, continuing across as part of the full state name “ESTADOS UNIDOS DO BRASIL” which is printed in large bold lettering across the lower portion of the note. The imprint “AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY” appears in small text at the very bottom, confirming the note’s printer. The denomination “5000” appears six times in total across the reverse — twice in large corner positions and four further times within the side panel guilloché work.

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Other Brazilian Cruzeiros you can exchange: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000.