Catalog
10 000 Reis Bolama seal
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Reverse description | Printed in brown tones on a multicolour guilloche underprint. A large central medallion, bearing the circular legend BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO, encloses an allegorical female figure seated before a square-rigged sailing vessel in the background; the denomination numeral 10 appears in bold relief on both the left and right flanking panels. At upper centre, a green letterpress cartouche carries the agency inscription PAGAVEL NA AGENCIA DE BOLAMA. |
| Reverse lettering | PAGAVEL NA AGENCIA DE BOLAMA BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO (Translation: Payable in agency of Bolama National Bank Overseas) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino served as the colonial note-issuing bank for Portuguese overseas territories, and this 10,000 Réis note carries the Bolama seal — identifying it for circulation in Portuguese Guinea, whose administrative capital at the time was Bolama rather than Bissau. That distinction matters: notes of the same Bradbury Wilkinson printing were overprinted or sealed for different territories, and the Bolama designation makes this the rarer variant within what was otherwise a shared colonial issue.
By 1909, Bolama was already beginning its slow administrative decline; Bissau would eventually supersede it as capital in 1941.