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2 1/2 Escudos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 21/2 Escudos (2.50) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Portrait vignette of Francisco de Oliveira Chamiço at centre, flanked by the seal of the Banco Nacional Ultramarino. The denomination is displayed centrally within an elaborate guilloche underprint, with the Portuguese National Coat of Arms positioned below. Inscriptions in Portuguese identify the issuing bank, province, and denomination. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central vignette of a seated allegorical female figure, rendered in intaglio against a background of ships at sea in the distance. The denomination 2$50 appears in large numerals at left and right within ornate guilloche panels, with the bank title arching across the upper portion of the design in bold letterpress. A fine lace-like guilloche border frames the entire composition. |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino served as the colonial note-issuing authority across Portuguese overseas territories, and this 2½ Escudo denomination — an awkward fraction that reflects the transitional arithmetic of the 1911 Republican monetary reform, which set 1000 Réis equal to 1 Escudo — was printed by Bradbury Wilkinson at their New Malden works in Surrey. The fraction persisted in circulation long after it created practical inconvenience, largely because the Portuguese Treasury was slow to mint adequate coinage for the lower denominations.
Pick 56 likely served multiple territories under BNU's remit, though the specific overprint or place-of-payment text determines which colonial market received any given example.