20 Escudos

Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied an unusual position in Portuguese colonial finance — it held note-issuing rights not for Portugal proper but for its overseas territories, and this 1945 issue was specifically for Portuguese Guinea (present-day Guinea-Bissau). Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement was typical for colonial currency printed outside Lisbon; the firm handled an enormous volume of colonial and dominion paper for multiple European powers through the mid-twentieth century.

The 1945 date places this note squarely in the final months of the Second World War, a period when shipping disruptions affected distribution of printed currency to remote territories. Notes for Portuguese Guinea sometimes sat in storage considerably longer than intended before reaching circulation.