Casa da Moeda do Brasil 330th anniversary commemorative medal featuring augmented reality (AR) technology. Credit: Casa da Moeda do Brasil.
The Casa da Moeda do Brasil (CMB, or Brazilian Mint) celebrated its 330th anniversary earlier this month with the launch of a commemorative medal featuring augmented reality (AR) technology. The medal is available in either bronze or silver and features invisible ink in addition to the AR technology.
The obverse of the medal depicts ‘330 years’ prominently on the right, with the years ‘1694 • 2024’ underneath, and the Mint’s logo below that. The numeral ‘330’ has been applied with a luminous invisible ink designed by the CMB, which only becomes visible under ultraviolet light.
The central anniversary dates and logo are surrounded on the left and in the centre by various products manufactured by CMB – including the Rio Olympic and Paralympic medals, Brazil’s passport, Brazilian banknotes and coins, and historic postage stamps. The products have been coloured using pad printing and are intended to represent both the company’s past and present.
On the reverse, an image of the Mint’s current building in the Industrial District of Santa Cruz features above that of its previous base in Praça da Aclamação (currently Praça da República), where it resided from 1868 to 1984. ‘INTEGRITY, SUSTAINABILITY, COMMITMENT, QUALITY, SECURITY, EFFICIENCY’ are inscribed at the top of the coin. ‘FAITH – LOYALTY – DEDICATION – WORK’ are inscribed on the bottom of the coin, a reference to the consecration of the position of coin acceptor – a ceremony that designated those responsible for minting coins in the Middle Ages.
In terms of the AR technology, users are able to scan a QR code and then the collector item to launch a mobile-based AR feature which provides an interactive experience to collectors and reveals a three-dimensional animation on the coloured face of the medal.
In the same month as the Brazilian Mint’s anniversary, the Federal Senate of Brazil celebrated its 200th anniversary. The Brazilian Mint has also produced a commemorative medal to mark the occasion, with three types in vermeil (silvergilt), silver, and bronze produced. The President of the Mint, Sérgio Perini, and President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, participated in a ceremony to award the medals to senators and former presidents of the Senate. This included the act of defacing the minting dies, to symbolise the limited-edition nature of the medals.
Each of the medals are numbered on the edge and include a certificate of authenticity provided by the CMB. A total of 440 medals were minted – 120 each of the vermeil and silver and 400 of the bronze medals. According to a report from the Senate Agency (Agência Senado), 100 of the bronze medals will be offered for sale, although a date for this has not yet been set.
With the series theme set as ‘The Houses of the Senate’, the obverse of each medal depicts a different building utilised as the institution’s headquarters throughout its history. The vermeil version of the medal features an image of the Senate’s current headquarters, the National Congress Palace, in the country’s capital, Brasília. The silver medal depicts the Monroe Palace in Rio de Janeiro, where the institution was based between 1925 and 1960, whilst the bronze medal features the Rio-based Conde dos Arcos Palace, utilised from the Senate’s formal physical establishment until 1925.
The reverse of each medal features a common design, with ‘200 years of the Senate’ inscribed at the top and the years ‘1824 > 2024’ at the bottom. Modern architectural elements are depicted across the background of the coin, a nod to the design of the current Senate headquarters.
A third anniversary commemorated by the CMB this month is the 80th anniversary of Brazil’s Federal Police. As with the other two anniversaries, the Mint has produced a medal to mark the occasion.
Minted in bronze, the medal depicts a shield logo of the institution – created to commemorate the anniversary – in the centre, with the dates ‘1944’ and ‘2024’ above and below the shield, respectively. The shield is coloured in black, with the dates and ‘80’ in gold. Lines surround the central logo, fanning out in a circular pattern and intended to symbolise the ‘unquestionable brilliance of the institution in all the different aspects of its activities’, said the Mint.
The reverse of the medal features a stylised map of Brazil and its borders within a larger map of a section of South American continent. The foreground of the design depicts members of the Federal Police engaged in activities it is typically involved in – including maritime, cybercrime, and various field actions. The institution’s logo is also displayed prominently on the reverse, with ‘Brasil’ inscribed at the bottom of the medal.
