5 Avos Stamp PAGAVEL EM TIMOR over '5 Avos', Macau

When Japanese forces threatened the region in 1940, Timor faced an acute shortage of small-denomination currency. The Banco Nacional Ultramarino's solution was blunt: take unissued Macau notes, apply a handstamp reading "PAGAVEL EM TIMOR" — payable in Timor — and release them into circulation as a stopgap. The overlay also converts the face value, placing 5 Avos over whatever the underlying Macau denomination read.

The Hongkong Printing Press connection is worth noting: BNU relied heavily on Hong Kong-based commercial printers for its colonial issues during this period, a supply chain that would become untenable within two years of this note's issue.