1889 Brazil 200 Réis

The 1889 200 Réis marks Brazil's first coinage under the Republic, struck mere months after the monarchy's overthrow in November 1889.

This silver piece replaced imperial designs with a simple obverse featuring the Republic's coat of arms—a wreath encircling stars and the date. The reverse shows the denomination within a beaded circle, all on planchets sourced from local mints in Rio de Janeiro. No fancy alloys here; it was straightforward billon, much like the coins that preceded it.

Exact mintage numbers? Gone with the wind, likely lost in bureaucratic shuffles of the time. I've handled a few over the decades, and they're often mistaken for rarities, but that's just collector hype.

One oddity: the edge is reeded, which might have deterred counterfeiters in a newly unstable economy. Not that it helped much.