Catalog
2500 Reis Bolama seal
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
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| Size | 147 × 93 mm |
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| Reverse description | Blue-green. A central oval vignette encloses an allegorical female figure seated in the foreground, with a tall-masted sailing ship visible in the background. The denomination "2500" appears in large numerals on both flanks within ornate guilloche borders, and the bank title arcs across the upper portion of the vignette surround. |
| Reverse lettering | PAGAVEL NA AGENCIA DE BOLAMA BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO (Translation: Payable in agency of Bolama National Bank Overseas) |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino issued this note for Portuguese Guinea, a territory whose administrative center at Bolama gave the note its distinguishing seal — a practice the BNU used to differentiate circulation across its scattered colonial branches, all drawing on a shared London-printed stock. Bradbury Wilkinson produced the base notes; local validation through the Bolama overprint converted a generic colonial instrument into territory-specific currency.
Portuguese Guinea at this date was barely administered beyond the coast, and Bolama itself was replaced as capital by Bissau in 1941. Notes of this branch seal survive in smaller numbers than contemporaneous BNU issues for Angola or Mozambique, simply because the territory's commercial activity — and therefore its note circulation — was considerably thinner.