Catalog
20 Centavos seal type II
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Purple on multicolour underprint. The Portuguese Coat of Arms appears at right, with the bank seal (Type II) at bottom centre. The face bears the issuing bank title and denomination inscriptions arranged across the note, with the date and printer's imprint at foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Purple intaglio vignette on orange guilloche underprint. A seated allegorical female figure occupies the central oval, gazing toward a sailing vessel and a steamship on the water behind her, evoking maritime commerce. Denomination numeral "0$20" appears in bold circular cartouches at left and right, flanked by intricate lathe-work rosettes, with the bank title split across ribbon banners at upper left and upper right and the printer's imprint at foot centre. |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino's wartime fractional issues for Portuguese Guinea were a direct response to the chronic shortage of small coinage that plagued the territory in the early years of the First World War. Bradbury, Wilkinson produced clean, reliable work for BNU throughout this period, and the Guinea fractionals share their general execution with other colonial emergency issues the London firm handled simultaneously.
The "seal type II" designation distinguishes this from the otherwise identical type I by the stamp applied at issue — a detail that trips up collectors who treat the two as interchangeable.