Brazil hits new high note
(5 February 2010 – Global) Brazil’s Central Bank president, Henrique Meirelles, released the nation’s new sophisticated 50 and 100 (A$61) reais bank notes at a press conference this week.
The motto of the campaign to launch the money ‘The Real Has Gotten Even Stronger’ is designed to send a message to counterfeiters that the currency will not longer be easy prey to copy.
Losses suffered in Brazil as a result of counterfeit notes in 2009, came to 23 million reais (A$14 million) with an ever more severe loss reported in 2008 of 28 million reais (A$17 million).
More sophisticated graphics have been employed making it harder to counterfeit the notes, while current elements of the notes, such as watermark, have been maintained and other features have been redesigned for easier identification.
The notes, to be in circulation before June, also carry different holographic stripes.
Notes of lesser value ranging from 2, 5, 10 and 20 reais will be replaced gradually until 2012.
The adaptation of banking equipment to read the new notes should be quick and should not result in problems for banking institutions, assured the Brazilian monetary authority.
Around 400 million reais (US$ 216 million) has been invested in the effort to modernise the mint.
The cost to manufacture one thousand notes of the new currency will be close to 200 reais (US$ 108), about 25 percent more than it cost to make the previous notes; however will last around 30 percent longer than the outgoing currency.
Losses suffered in Brazil as a result of counterfeit notes in 2009, came to 23 million reais (A$14 million) with an ever more severe loss reported in 2008 of 28 million reais (A$17 million).
More sophisticated graphics have been employed making it harder to counterfeit the notes, while current elements of the notes, such as watermark, have been maintained and other features have been redesigned for easier identification.
The notes, to be in circulation before June, also carry different holographic stripes.
Notes of lesser value ranging from 2, 5, 10 and 20 reais will be replaced gradually until 2012.
The adaptation of banking equipment to read the new notes should be quick and should not result in problems for banking institutions, assured the Brazilian monetary authority.
Around 400 million reais (US$ 216 million) has been invested in the effort to modernise the mint.
The cost to manufacture one thousand notes of the new currency will be close to 200 reais (US$ 108), about 25 percent more than it cost to make the previous notes; however will last around 30 percent longer than the outgoing currency.
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