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20 Centavos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Centavos (0.20) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Green intaglio on pale stock; a classical allegorical female figure occupies the left margin and a putto the right, flanking a central guilloche vignette with VINTE CENTAVOS in large lettering within an ornate frame. BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO runs across the top, and MOÇAMBIQUE appears on a cartouche above the denomination, with two heraldic shields at the lower corners. The date Lisboa, 1 de Janeiro de 1920 is printed below the serial number, with signature lines for O Vice-governador and O Governador at foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO MOÇAMBIQUE VINTE CENTAVOS 20 CENTAVOS Lisboa, 1 de Janeiro de 1920 O Vice-governador O governador |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino issued fractional centavo notes for its Mozambique operations in the early 1920s because the wartime metal shortage had stripped small-denomination coins from circulation almost entirely. Paper filling that gap was an uncomfortable stopgap — these low-value notes were heavily handled, passed between dozens of hands before wearing out, and survival rates for undamaged examples are genuinely poor as a result.
The BNU held a long-running monopoly on note issue across Portugal's African territories, and the Mozambique fractional series was among the more short-lived products of that arrangement, superseded once coin supply stabilized.