Catalog
20 Escudos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Escudos |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in blue. A central vignette depicts a female allegorical figure with sailing ships in the background. A red overprint legend reading 'S. TOMÉ e PRÍNCIPE' appears on the face of the note. |
| Reverse lettering | PAGAVEL NAS DEPENDENCIAS DA PROVINCIA DE S. TOMÉ E PRINCIPE BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ld. Gravadores, Londres (Translation: Payable at the branches of the Province of St. Thomas and Prince National Overseas Bank Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd. Engravers, London) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied an unusual position in Portuguese colonial finance — it held note-issuing rights not just for one territory but across multiple overseas possessions simultaneously, a franchise arrangement that made its metropolitan and colonial emissions easily confused in contemporary records. This 1921 emission for the metropole came from Bradbury, Wilkinson's New Malden works, a British security printer that handled a substantial share of Portuguese-related paper at the time.
Pick 23 is scarce in any grade. The 1920s saw repeated currency instability in Portugal, and notes of this denomination were heavily circulated before successive monetary reforms pulled them from use.