STOLEN
BANKNOTES
Posted: October, 2000
In July 1990, in the city of Salvador, Bahia, 179,400 bank
notes of Cr$ 5 thousand, a total of 897 million cruzeiro of five
different series, were stolen from the Regional Central Office of
the Banco Central do Brasil. The notes were pilfered from several
large quantities of paper money that were in a safe. Many of those
series of notes were already in circulation and others, which were
left behind by the thieves, were later put into circulation.
On July 9, 1990, communique no. 002138 from the Banco Central
do Brasil notified financial institutions of the theft of the bank
notes and informed them that because the notes had not as yet been
officially issued, their circulation would be a criminal act and
outlined to them how to proceed if any of the stolen notes were
presented at the windows of their financial establishments.
Triguieros (1) comments: "The robbers hadn't planned the crime and
alswo didn't know that the series were strictly controlled as to
numeration, which would serve to take them out of circulation."
Business in general and the financial institutions, in order to
locate and avoid receiving the stolen bank notes, had to consult a
list with the number of the series and the serial numbers of the
criminally stolen notes.
On September 12, 1990, communique no. 0022181 of the Banco
Central do Brasil indicated which measures were necessary to
identify the bank notes stolen from their Commission in Salvador,
Bahia. The method adopted was the withdrawal ofr the legitimate bank
notes belonging to the stolen series, thereby permitting in this way
the identification merely by memorization of the five series
numbers.
The stolen bank notes of Cr$ 5,000.00 (five thousand
cruzeiros) were from printings A and B - the A printings, honoring
Antonio Carlos Gomes (1836-1896), composer and maestro considered
the most important Brazilan musician of the XIX century, are of
series A0017, A0018, and A0020.
The demonetized bank notes of series A0017, are sequentially
numbered 040201A to 045000A, of series A0018, sequentially numbered
005001A to 085000A and 09001A to 100000A; of series A0020,
sequentially numbered 015001A to 020000A, 0250001A to 030000A,
050001A to 055000A and 065001A to 070000A. The stolen bank notes of
printing B, honoring the Republic, with a figure symbolizing the
Republic on the obverse and the Coat of Arms of the Republic on the
reverse, are of series A0069 and A0339. The demonetized bank notes
of series A0069 are sequentially numbered 035401B to 040000B and
those of series A0039 sequentially numbered 010001B to 015000B,
020001B to 030000B, 040001B to 065000B and 075001B to
095000B.
Other recent occurences of cancellation were those banknotes
stolen from the agencies of the Banco do Brasil in Belem and Recife.
the agency in Parana was robbed of banknotes of Cr$ 5,000.00
(printing B), series A0741, A0742, and A0743. The bank notes of
these series were never put into circulation, and according to a
communique of the Banco Central do Brasil no. 002319 of February 15,
1991, were demonetized. In 1991, the agency in Pernambuco was robbed
of 5.7 million cruzeiros, and among the stolen bank notes were
20,000 notes of Cr$ 50,000.00 honoring Luis da Camara Cascuedo
(1898-1986), professor of Intenational law, journalist, folklorist,
ethnographer and historian. The reverse featured an engraving of a
Brzilian folklore scene "bumba-meu-boi" (a traditional dance with a
cast of characters). The bank notes never were put into circulation
and, according to a communique of the Banco Central do Brasil no.
002644 of December 16, 1991, were demonetized.
It is not know if the bank notes stolen in Recife or
Pernambuco were circulated.
Bibliographic Referenes:
(1) TRIGUEIROS, Florisvaldo dos Santos. Crimes contra a Moeda
no Brasil e no Mundo. O roubo do Banco Central do Brasil. Baletim
Numismatica da Associacio Brasileira de Numismatica, agosto de 1995,
2a fase (3): 18-19.
TRIGUIEROS, Florisvaldo dos Santos. Cedulas Brasileiras da
Republica Emissoes do Tesouro Nacional. Banco do Brasil S.A. Rio de
Janeiro. Graficos Bloch S.A.,
1965.
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