20 Patacas

The 1999 issue marks the final years of Portuguese administration over Macau, which reverted to Chinese sovereignty in December of that year. Banco Nacional Ultramarino, the Portuguese colonial bank with roots in Macau going back to 1902, retained note-issuing authority right up to the handover — one of the few instances where a colonial-era bank survived the transition intact and continued issuing under the new Special Administrative Region framework.

Thomas De La Rue's production is competent but unremarkable for the period. Security provision is basic by late-1990s standards — watermark and thread only, with no optically variable features.