Catalog
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| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The colonial arms appear at right, with a circular seal inscribed COLONIAS COMMERCIA AGRICULTURA at bottom centre; a counterfoil stub is present at left. The note is printed in a two-colour letterpress scheme with guilloche underprint work framing the central text panel bearing the denomination and issuing authority. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A central intaglio vignette within an oval frame shows a seated female figure in classical dress at the water's edge, with a sailing ship and a steamship in the background. Denomination counters reading 0$10 appear in ornate guilloche rosettes at left and right. The printer's imprint BRADBURY, WILKINSON & Co GRAVADORES LONDRES is visible at the bottom centre. |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied an unusual position among colonial issuing institutions — chartered in Lisbon but functioning as the note-issuing authority across Portugal's overseas territories, from Mozambique to Timor. This particular 10 Centavos belongs to a fractional series introduced as Portugal's wartime economy began to bite hard. The outbreak of the First World War created severe small-change shortages across the entire Lusophone world, and fractional paper emergency issues became a practical necessity rather than a policy choice.
Bradbury Wilkinson produced the series at their New Malden works, which made London the physical origin of notes destined for circulation in Portuguese colonial territories — an arrangement entirely unremarkable for the period but worth noting given the wartime Atlantic shipping risks involved.