Brazil 1951 20 centavos

from the Mountain Groan Collection

In 1942, during the presidency of Getulio Vargas, the réis was dropped as a unit of currency after 400 years and the cruzeiro adopted. To mark the occasion, all new coins were released with the ten, twenty and fifty centavos featuring the bust of Vargas. The issues of 1942-43 are copper-nickel but later issues of 1943-48 are aluminum bronze. After Vargas' ouster, his portrait was dropped and figures of famous (and safely dead) Brazilians substituted, in this case Ruy Barbosa. The cruzeiro itself survived only until 1967, the victim of uncontrolled inflation.

Recorded mintage: 14,954,000.

Specification: aluminum bronze, 20 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM 562.

Source:

• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• Pimentel, Alvaro Mendes, Catálogo de Moedas Brasileiras de 1643 a 1962, 9a Ed., Rio de Janeiro, 1962.

Link to:

• 1946 20 centavos
• 1945 50 centavos
• 1956 20 centavos
• Coins and currency dated 1951
• return to coins of Brazil