100 Patacas Banco Nacional Ultramarino

Waterlow & Sons had been printing for the Banco Nacional Ultramarino since the late nineteenth century, and by 1950 the relationship was well established — the London firm handled much of Portugal's colonial currency work across multiple territories simultaneously. This Macanese issue came at a moment when BNU held an exclusive note-issuing monopoly in Macau that dated back to 1902, a privilege the Lisbon-based bank jealously protected and would continue to hold for decades.

The Pick 44 series is notably scarcer than the later 1963 issue that replaced it, owing to lower print runs and the tendency of Macau's humid subtropical climate to accelerate paper deterioration in circulation.