Catalog
2500 Reis
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Portrait of Vasco da Gama in an oval vignette at left, flanked by elaborate guilloche scrollwork; the arms of Portugal appear at upper right, with the denomination '2500' in the upper corners. A circular red seal of the Banco Nacional Ultramarino is affixed at lower center, with a secondary vignette of Vasco da Gama's fleet under sail at lower right. The text panel at center carries the payable obligation in letterpress. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | PAGAVEL NA FILIAL EM S. THIAGO BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO (Translation: Payable in agency of St. Thiago National Bank Overseas) |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino issued notes across a sprawling network of Portuguese overseas territories, and distinguishing which colony a given note was intended for requires careful attention to the overprint or place-of-payment text — the base designs were frequently shared across multiple branches. This 1909 2500 Reis note from Bradbury Wilkinson falls into that category of centrally produced blanks finished for specific territorial use.
Bradbury Wilkinson's intaglio work of this period is generally reliable and technically consistent, though the firm was not yet at the peak of its security printing reputation it would later build through the interwar decades.