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The obverse is divided into a left stub and a main note body. The stub bears the denomination '0$10', the branch designation 'S. TIAGO', the location 'LISBOA', and the date '5 de Novembro de 1914'. The main body carries the bank title 'BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO' in an upper banner, with the branch 'EM S. TIAGO' below it, flanked by serial number fields and small oval vignettes at each upper corner. At centre, a large circular guilloche medallion bears the numeral '10' over the text 'CENTAVOS', with the inscriptions 'DEZ CENTAVOS' and 'MOEDA CORRENTE' in letterpress above; a circular green underprint vignette at lower centre depicts a sailing vessel within a ring legend 'BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO LISBOA', with spaces for serial number, date, and two signature lines for the Vice-Governor and the Governor. |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino's Cape Verde branch issues are among the more obscure Portuguese colonial paper of the early twentieth century, and the 1914 S. Tiago fractional notes occupy a particularly narrow window. The BNU had operated in the archipelago since 1865, but low-denomination emergency fractionals like this one typically emerged in response to coin shortages — a chronic problem in the islands, where metallic currency drained steadily toward trade deficits and hoarding.
Bradbury, Wilkinson produced high-quality security printing for colonial issuers across the British and Portuguese empires alike. The perforation security feature is the sole anti-counterfeiting measure noted for this type — modest even by 1914 standards.