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5 Patacas Banco Nacional Ultramarino, crowned arms
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905-1910 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Blue on orange underprint. The crowned Portuguese arms appear as a vignette at upper left, with a sailing ship vignette at upper center. Text inscriptions in both Portuguese and Chinese characters are distributed across the face, with the denomination and issuer details rendered in letterpress. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Green on salmon-pink guilloche underprint. The crowned coat of arms of Portugal is set within an ornate central oval medallion flanked by two denomination cartouches reading "$5". "BANCO NACIONAL" arches above and "ULTRAMARINO" below the central design, with Chinese character panels reading "伍圓" at each corner within a fine geometric border. |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino held the monopoly on note issue for Portuguese Macau from 1902, and this early series was among the first instruments to formalize that arrangement in paper. The choice of Barclay & Fry — a London security printer that never achieved the name recognition of Perkins Bacon or Bradbury Wilkinson but maintained steady colonial contract work through the late Victorian and Edwardian periods — reflects the Portuguese tendency to outsource prestige printing to British firms even for territories under Lisbon's direct administration.
The 1905–1910 date range suggests production in more than one print run, though the two issues are not easily distinguished by visual inspection alone. Pataca denominations in this period were tied to the Mexican silver dollar through local custom, not by formal legal decree.