10 Patacas Year of the Monkey, Banco Nacional Ultramarino

The Banco Nacional Ultramarino was the note-issuing authority for Macau from 1902 until that function transferred to the Autoridade Monetária de Macau in 2010 — yet the BNU name has continued on commemorative and collector issues well past that transition. This 2016 lunar new year piece is one of those post-transition releases, issued under the BNU brand while carrying no actual monetary utility as a circulating instrument.

The printed date of 30 April 1945 requires explanation: it refers to a date embedded in the underlying plate design, not the actual issue date of this note — a deliberate historical reference to an earlier BNU Macau series rather than an error or misattribution.