5 Centavos Figueira da Foz

Figueira da Foz was one of dozens of Portuguese municipal chambers that resorted to issuing their own paper cédulas during the acute coin shortage that followed World War One. The Banco de Portugal's fractional coinage had largely disappeared from circulation — hoarded, melted, or simply insufficient — and municipalities were legally empowered to fill the gap on a temporary basis. Most of these local issues were printed cheaply and circulated hard within their own councils.

The designer credit "Santos" appears on a number of Portuguese cédula series from this period, though attributing a precise first name or firm with confidence is difficult given how sparse the printing records are for municipal issues of this type.