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1 Libra
| Issuer | Companhia de Moçambique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1934 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Libra |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | COMPANHIA DE MOÇAMBIQUE PAGARA A VISTA AO PORTADOR UMA LIBRA ESTERLINA BEIRA, 15 DE MARÇO DE 1934 O GERENTE DA CAIXA DE EMISSÃO O ADMINISTRADOR |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in blue-green on a pale ground, the reverse centres on a large oval guilloche vignette enclosed within an elaborate acanthus-scroll and laurel-wreath border. The denomination legend UMA LIBRA ESTERLINA appears in a rectangular panel at the centre of the oval, with the sterling numeral £1 placed above and below it within the guilloche field. The overall design is executed in fine intaglio engraving with no additional pictorial vignette. |
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| Comments |
The Companhia de Moçambique was a chartered company — not a government — granted administrative and commercial control over the territories of Manica and Sofala by Portugal in 1891. It issued its own currency, maintained its own military, and effectively ran a private colony until its charter expired in 1942. This note, printed by Bradbury Wilkinson in London, circulated within that company-administered territory, not across Mozambique as a whole.
By 1934 the company was in visible decline, its revenues insufficient to sustain the administrative apparatus the charter demanded. The libra denomination itself reflected a deliberate peg to sterling rather than the Portuguese escudo.