20 Centavos seal type III

Banco Nacional Ultramarino's 20 Centavos of 1914 belongs to a stop-gap series issued for Portuguese Mozambique during the acute small-change shortage that gripped the colony in the early war years. Metal coinage had largely disappeared from circulation — hoarded or simply absent — and the BNU stepped in with low-denomination fractional notes to fill the gap. Bradbury Wilkinson, already well established as a colonial currency printer by this date, handled production in London.

The "seal type III" designation refers to the overprint or authentication stamp variant used to validate the issue, distinguishing it from earlier seal applications on the same or related printings. Collectors should be aware that seal condition is the primary variable affecting value within this type.