Yellowknife (Oct 04/06) - For a few brief hours Friday, David Giroux thought he had struck gold- Brazilian gold that is.

The Dettah resident was at the dump looking for pop bottles to cash in when a slender bank note lying on the ground caught his eye.

David Giroux thought he struck it rich Friday after finding this bill at the dump for 100,000 Brazilian cruzeiros. It's actually worth about $8 U.S.

"There was a little bit of sand on it, it was just sitting there," said David Giroux.

"It said $100,000 on it. It looked like money."

The bill was an undated Brazilian bank note. Giroux took it to a bank, where he said a bank teller told him it was no longer in circulation, but they were willing to hand over $10,000 Canadian in cash for it, plus put the remainder in his bank account.

According to the Bank of Canada, 100,000 Brazilian reals - the country's official currency - equals $51,700 Canadian.

"She said their exchange rate was 43 per cent," said Giroux.

"After that, she talked to the bank manager. They did some further checking, and said that dollar has been discontinued."

But not to be discouraged, Giroux said he was told after visiting several banks that he may be in luck if he was to take his bank note to a larger banking centre in Edmonton or Toronto.

Giroux said if the bill was still good - as in some $50,000 - it would go along way to helping paying off some bills. He also wanted to created a trust fund in the name of Karl Lust, the deceased owner of Johnson's Building Supplies, to set up a scholarship program for carpentry students.

Sadly, it was not to be. A closer examination on Internet banking sites revealed that Giroux's particular bill practically worthless. Well, worth eight American dollars, anyway.

The 100,000 cruzeiro bill, issued in 1986 and bearing the likeness of former Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek, was printed at a time of hyperinflation when bank notes were constantly being revalued. One-hundred thousand reals would certainly be worth a big pot of money but not in cruzeiros.

Giroux will have to put his scholarship plans on hold.

"Well, it was worth a try," said Giroux.