10 000 Reis

Bradbury Wilkinson printed this note for the Banco Nacional Ultramarino at a moment when the Portuguese colonial banking system was under serious institutional strain — the Republic was less than a year away, and the BNU's concession rights across multiple territories were already being contested in Lisbon. The 10,000 Réis denomination placed this firmly in the high-value tier for colonial circulation, where forgery risk and hoarding pressures were both acute.

BNU's Pick 10 series for this period is notoriously scarce in any condition, likely the result of low initial print runs combined with aggressive withdrawal after the 1910 political transition reshuffled colonial monetary arrangements.