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5 Avos Banco Nacional Ultramarino
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Single-colour red lithograph on pale paper, with the bank title scrolled across the upper portion in bold lettering beneath a Portuguese royal arms vignette at upper left. The central panel carries a rectangular guilloche underprint bearing the denomination inscription CINCO AVOS in a framed cartouche, flanked by Chinese characters 伍仙 to the left. The serial number appears twice, once at upper centre and once at lower left, with the GERENTE manuscript signature at lower right and numeral 5 corner devices in ornate frames. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Monochrome red lithograph with an elaborate central guilloche rosette enclosing the large numeral 5 above the inscription CINCO AVOS within a scalloped medallion. Flanking the central vignette are symmetrical foliate and floral ornaments, with MACAU and BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO arching along the top border. A lower banner carries the Chinese institution name 大西洋國海外滙理銀行 with 澳門 at the right extremity. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino served as the currency authority for Portuguese Macau, and this wartime issue presents an immediate puzzle: Hong Kong was under Japanese occupation from December 1941 until August 1945, yet the note carries a 1944 date and a Hong Kong Printing Press imprint. Whether it was printed before the fall, stockpiled, or produced under occupation-era arrangements remains genuinely disputed among specialists.
Macau itself stayed nominally neutral under Portuguese administration throughout the war — an anomaly that kept its currency functioning when nearly every neighboring monetary system had collapsed.