Catalog
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| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Escudos |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Black intaglio print on a multicolour guilloche underprint. A central oval vignette, framed by the circular BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO legend, presents an allegorical seated female figure with sailing ships in the background. Large numeral 5 counters appear at left and right within ornate lathe-work borders, with red guilloche elements at the corners. |
| Reverse lettering | PAGAVEL NAS DEPENDENCIAS DA PROVINCIA DE GUINÉ BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO BRADBURY, WILKINSON & Co. Ld. GRAVADORES, LONDRES (Translation: Payable at the premises of the Province of Guinea National Overseas Bank Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd. Engravers, London) |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied an unusual position in Portuguese colonial finance — it held a monopoly on note issue across multiple territories simultaneously, meaning the same institution was printing currency for Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and others at the same time. This 1921 Timor issue was a low-denomination note serving a territory with minimal banking infrastructure and a population largely outside the cash economy.
Bradbury Wilkinson had a long relationship with BNU and its colonial series. Notes from this period are prone to foxing and edge wear from the tropical humidity of Timor, and genuinely clean survivors are harder to find than Pick's relative scarcity rating suggests.