Brazilian currency

The official Brazilian currency since 1994 is the Brazilian real (plural reais, sign R$, code BRL).

Through its history, Brazil had a number of other currencies:

• Portuguese real
• Brazilian real (old) (Rs$), pl. réis; from colonial times to 1942
• cruzeiro (first) (₢, Cr$) = 1,000 réis; from 1942 to 1967.
• cruzeiro novo (NCr$) = 1,000 cruzeiros; from 1967 to 1970
• cruzeiro (second) (Cr$) = 1 cruzeiro novo; from 1970 to 1986
• cruzado (Cz$) = 1,000 cruzeiros novos; from 1986 to 1989
• cruzado novo (NCz$) = 1,000 cruzados; from January 1989 to March 1990
• cruzeiro (third) (Cr$) = 1,000 cruzados novos; from 1990 to 1993
• cruzeiro real = 1,000 cruzeiros; from August 1993 to June 1994
• real (modern) (R$), pl. reais = 2,750 cruzeiros reais; from 1994 to present

Thus, one modern Brazilian real is equivalent to 2,750,000,000,000,000,000,000 times the old real, that is, 2.75 sextillion réis.