Discover the rarest and most valuable Real banknotes

There are banknotes that have become valuable because they have printing errors, because they were manufactured in other countries or even because there are few copies in circulation. Thus, some people pay fortunes for these rare notes and even collect them. Get to know some of these banknotes and find out how much they can be worth in the collectors' market.

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Some of the rare and valuable banknotes

• 50 reais note without “God be praised”

This note has become valuable because it has a printing flaw. In 1994, there was a lot of banknotes of 50 reais that was placed on the market, but the inscription “God be praised” was forgotten on these banknotes. After that, this message was found on all Real banknotes, and currently this rare model is worth 4,000 reais on the collectors' market.

• 5 and 10 reais banknotes with an asterisk

Until the 1990s, the Casa da Moeda had the habit of withdrawing defective banknotes from circulation. In this case, these notes were replaced by others, which were printed with an asterisk in front of their serial number. Thus, only 400,000 of these 5 and 10 reais banknotes entered circulation, and that is why today they can be sold for up to 2,000 reais.

• “Imported” banknotes of 5, 10 and 50 reais

In order to be able to fulfill its launch schedule in 1994, Real had some banknotes that were “imported” from other countries. Some of the 5 reais notes were produced in Germany, while others of 10 reais were made by an English company.

Also, some 50 reais notes were made in France and can currently be worth around R$1,500 on the collectors' market. These banknotes are identified by the letter “B” at the end of their serial number, in addition to having the manufacturer's brand on the back of the banknotes.

And which is the most valuable?

Among the most valuable notes in the world, there is the American Grand Watermelon Bill, from 1890, which can be sold for 2,791,803 euros, that is, about 12 million reais.

This note got its name, which means “Big Watermelon” in Portuguese, because of the big zeros, which look like the fruit. Today, there are only seven of these notes known, making them extremely valuable and rare.