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2500 Réis 1st. print
| Issuer | Banco de Portugal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1891 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Red intaglio print on a fine guilloche underprint in green. The Portuguese Coat of Arms appears in an oval cartouche at left, flanked by the denomination numeral 2500 in an ornate panel at right. The entire face is covered by a dense, text-based underprint repeating the note's value, with the issuer title, denomination legend, series letters, date, and two manuscript signatures arranged across the central field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in red, the reverse centres on a large oval vignette enclosing the crowned Portuguese Coat of Arms surrounded by laurel and floral sprays. The background is filled with an intricate guilloche lattice pattern, and the denomination 2$500 and the word PRATA appear vertically on both lateral margins. |
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| Comments |
Portugal's financial system was under acute stress in 1891 — the country had effectively defaulted on its external debt in May of that year, triggering a banking crisis that forced Banco de Portugal into emergency note issuance well beyond its previous circulation norms. This 2500 Réis belongs to that pressured expansion, a denomination that existed partly to bridge the gap left by the near-disappearance of silver coinage from everyday transactions.
The "1st print" designation matters here: subsequent print runs on this Pick type show measurable differences in ink saturation and paper stock, making the first printing the more precisely documented of the variants despite — or perhaps because of — its relative scarcity.