25 Patacas Banco Nacional Ultramarino

The 25 Patacas denomination was peculiar to Macao — an awkward figure driven by the local currency's peg to the Hong Kong dollar and the practical realities of exchange at the border with Guangdong. Waterlow & Sons printed the series during a period when Macao occupied a strange position: a tiny Portuguese enclave that had remained technically neutral through the Japanese occupation of surrounding territories, yet subject to enormous economic pressure, currency manipulation, and wartime inflation that eroded purchasing power well before 1945.

Pick 31 is among the scarcer survivors of this period. Heavy circulation and Macao's humid subtropical climate did considerable damage to the cotton substrate over time.