100 Patacas Banco Nacional Ultramarino, uncrowned arms

The Banco Nacional Ultramarino was the sole note-issuing authority for Portuguese Macau throughout the colonial period, but the 1919 series arrived at an awkward moment — wartime inflation had badly eroded confidence in paper instruments across Portuguese-administered territories, and high-denomination notes like this one were viewed with particular suspicion in a trading port where silver coin remained the preferred medium.

Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement signals the quality tier BNU was aiming for. The London firm had by this date an established record printing colonial currency for Portuguese possessions, and their intaglio work was specifically chosen to counter the sophisticated counterfeiting networks active in southern China at the time.

The "uncrowned arms" designation distinguishes this issue from later types and reflects the republican heraldic revision following Portugal's 1910 abolition of the monarchy.