The Central Bank of Brazil spent R$2.2 million to launch two commemorative coins of R$2 and R$5 at the end of July, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Brazil’s Independence.
The interest of Brazilians in these coins was such that the Clube da Medalha website, the official store of Casa da Moeda do Brasil and the only place where the coins were sold, couldn’t handle the traffic and was offline the week of launch.
As an alternative, Casa da Moeda started to receive purchase orders via your email. In just one hour, 10,000 emails were received, which sold out the initial print run of 5,000 silver coins (the R$5 coin) and 10,000 cupronickel coins (the R$2 coin).
To create this commemorative coin project, the Central Bank spent a total of BRL 2,204,524.11. The data were obtained by Bitcoin Portalvia the Access to Information Law (LAI).
According to the BC, the amount of R$ 2.2 million was the total value of the project, which includes the production costs of the initial print run of the coins and the remuneration for the sale.
To produce 5,000 silver coins, the municipality spent BRL 1,620,900 — the manufacturing cost was BRL 324.18 per coin. The production of 10,000 cupronickel coins was R$ 228,500, with the production of each one costing R$ 22.85.
“The composition of the sale price includes the cost of supply, the face value, the remuneration to the Casa da Moeda do Brasil (CMB) for the sale and the Central Bank margin”, explains the BC.
Therefore, the entity spent R$1,849,400 on the production of the coins alone, which suggests that the remaining R$355,124.11 invested in the project was used to remunerate those responsible for the sale, in this case, the Brazilian Mint.
According to the BC, the source of the funds used to pay for the project came from the Budget of the Monetary Authority.
Coin sales
When launched, each silver coin was offered for sale for R$ 420, while the cupronickel was for R$ 34. Thus, a profit of R$ 106.97 was taken by the Casa da Moeda on the sales of the coins, with respect to to their production costs.
When the Central Bank responded to the report’s questions, it revealed that 3,093 cupronickel coins and 1,198 silver coins had been sold until August 5th.
Despite this, the initial print run must have already been sold out, as indicated in a note from the Casa da Moeda published on its website. The BC also makes the same estimate, as the currency purchase process was delayed due to technical problems.
“As the demand was very high, the sales site showed instability and reservations started to be made by email, which increased the processing time necessary for the sale to be made. In addition, payment is made by bank slip, with a period of five working days. […] The CMB’s assessment is that there are enough reserve requests for coins to exhaust the initial print run”, explained the BC.
The production of coins
The two commemorative coins that the Central Bank launched on July 26 — one in silver worth R$ 5 and the other in cupronickel, worth R$ 2 — bring illustrations of two historical moments linked to the Independence of Brazil.
The most expensive coin, silver, represents the session of the Council of State in which the decision was taken to send letters to D. Pedro advising him to break with the Portuguese Crown.
The second coin, made of cupronickel, depicts the Grito da Independência, in which D. Pedro proclaims the separation of Brazil from Portugal on the banks of the Ipiranga River.
The commemorative coins project was developed jointly by the technical teams of the Central Bank and the Casa da Moeda, with the latter being responsible for the graphic design.
The BC says that it cannot provide more details on the technical aspects of the coins, explaining that this information is confidential as established by art. 7, § 1, of the Access to Information Law (LAI) and art. 45 of Decree 7,845, of 2012.
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