In early 1997, the Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), Brazil’s central bank, began an internal evaluation project to potentially convert their paper banknotes to polymer banknotes.
The series under consideration was the first family of Brazilian real paper banknotes, which had been issued in July 1994 and was in circulation at the time.
Based on this interest, the Casa da Moeda do Brasil (CMB), Brazil's official printing works, was tasked with studying and evaluating polymer banknotes and the processes required to print them. The evaluation phase began with the acquisition of a polymer substrate. Between 1997 and 1998, the CMB was provided with sheets of the Guardian™ polymer substrate by Securency International Pty Ltd. (Securency), the sole global supplier of the Guardian™ polymer substrate at that time. (Note: Securency was an Australian-based company, established in 1996 as a 50:50 joint venture between the Reserve Bank of Australia and UCB Films, a Belgian conglomerate that manufactured polymer film. Securency is now CCL Secure and UCB Films is now Innovia Films, a division of CCL Industries).
Guardian™ polymer sheets were sent to Brazil. These sheets were opacified (with white print-ready layer applied on the clear polymer film) and contained the Securency watermark (properly called "clear image" on polymer substrates) in the white opacifying layer. The CMB then performed a number of printing tests by using the original plates for the design of the 10-real paper banknote of the first family of Brazilian reais and the acquired Guardian™ film sheets.
Two different varieties were printed:
⦁ Variety #1 (1997): Contains the signatures of Pedro Sampaio Malan (Minister of Finance) and Gustavo Jorge Laboissière Loyola (President of the Central Bank in 1997): See Figure 1.
⦁ Variety #2 (1998): Contains the signatures of Pedro Sampaio Malan (Minister of Finance) and Gustavo Henrique de Barroso Franco (President of the Central Bank in 1998): See Figure 2.
The catalog numbers of the equivalent paper banknote of Variety #1 are SCWPM 245Aa , BNB B867i and C289 . The equivalent paper notes were issued with prefix A and suffix C. The polymer test notes were prepared with prefix A and suffix A, (new) catalog number BNB B867is2.
The catalog numbers of the equivalent paper banknote of Variety #2 are SCWPM 245Ab, BNB B867j and C290. The equivalent paper notes were issued with prefix A and suffix C. The polymer test notes were prepared with prefix A and suffix A, (new) catalog number BNB B867js.
The resulting polymer notes were identical to the original paper banknotes, but printed on the Guardian™ polymer substrate and without a magnetic security thread, the Brazil-related watermark (Brazil's flag) and the colored/luminescent fibers. All other nine security features of the original paper banknote were reproduced, viz. (a) chalcographic printing; (b) a special background; (c) microprinting; (d) coincident printing (forming a complete image between prints of the obverse and reverse); (e) serial numbering (A0000000000A); (f) a latent image; (g) tactile marks; (h) signatures; and, (i) multidirectional lines.
See Figure 3: The security features of the 10-real polymer test note
⦁ Chalcographic printing (a) – The images of the Republic and the macaw, the captions "BANCO CENTRAL DO BRASIL" and "DEZ REAIS," the strip containing the word "REAIS" and the numbers indicating the denomination of the note (10) are embossed and can be felt with one's fingers.
⦁ Special background (b) – Made up of straight and sinuous lines, extremely thin, which give color to the entire note.
⦁ Microprinting (c) – When using a magnifier, the presence of very small letters "B" and "C" can be observed in the light strip next to the effigy (front) and inside the number 10 (front and back).
⦁ Coincident printing (d) – Looking at the note against light, the design of the national arms printed on the obverse of the note matches exactly to the complementing design found on the reverse of the note.
⦁ Serial numbering (e) – These are the letters and numbers that uniquely identify a banknote. Issued banknotes cannot have the same number.
⦁ Latent image (f) – Looking at the obverse from the bottom left corner, placing it at eye level in a horizontal position under strong, natural light, the letters "B" and "C" (representing Banco Central) are visible.
⦁ Tactile marks (g) – Printed marks in relief to help the visually impaired to identify a banknote. Each banknote has its own tactile marks. The 10-real banknote has two ellipses arranged horizontally as a tactile mark.
⦁ Signatures (h) – There are two signatures present on each note: one of the Minister of Finance and the other of the President of the Central Bank of Brazil. The signatures give a Brazilian banknote its legal-tender value.
⦁ Multidirectional lines (i) – Straight and parallel lines, extremely fine and very close to each other, give the illusion of uninterrupted printing in a specific area. They cover almost the entire banknote, but are most visible on the left side of the reverse (a less-printed area), where the watermark on the paper banknote is located. On the reverse, vertical lines within horizontal lines create 8mm-high letters that form the word "FALSA," which means "false." This security feature prevents reproduction by copy machines, which copies using only one light direction and the results of the reproduction generate the visible word "FALSA."
During printing, there are always some notes that are not perfect. Machines need to be set up and run, and there are stops and adjustments in the process. Also, there are things that happen after printing, e.g., in the way sheets and notes are handled and further processed. For most likely one or some of the reasons listed above, the notes printed for Variety #2 (Pedro S. Malan / Gustavo H. B. Franco signatures) show some "smeared ink" issues, as can be seen in Figure 2.
Additionally, to ensure that no one would misinterpret these test notes as legal-tender banknotes, the notes were overprinted with SEM VALOR ("no value") in black ink on the obverse. And as already mentioned, all notes contain the Securency logo in the white opacifying layer of the polymer film.
See Figure 4: Securency logo in the offset of the polymer film
It is interesting to note that, since the original plates for the 10-real paper banknote were used as part of this test and due to the different rates of ink absorption in paper and polymer substrate (higher absorption rate in paper substrates), the embossed reliefs are much stronger on the 10-real polymer test note. It also "shines" more than its paper banknote counterpart.
These printing tests were performed by the BCB with the objective of issuing polymer banknotes into circulation for public use. The initial tests were successful and the BCB decided to convert all banknotes in circulation at the time to polymer (Guardian™). Allegedly immense political pressure however was placed on the BCB by the banknote paper manufacturing company. The BCB bowed to the political pressure and reversed their decision.
The tests of the 10-real polymer macaw note made in 1997/1998 were kept confidential by the BCB and CMB, and the entire production of these polymer test notes should have been destroyed. A small quantity escaped destruction. In late 2023, some 25 years later, this small quantity surfaced in the numismatic market. No more than two hundred notes have survived, of which approximately 75% are Variety #1 and 25% are Variety #2.
These test notes are scarce and quite desirable items for both Brazilian and polymer banknote collectors alike.
Researched and written by Miguel Singer & Ruy André Peretti
