50 000 Réis

Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied a peculiar position in Portuguese colonial finance — it held note-issuing rights across multiple overseas territories simultaneously, meaning the same institution was printing currency for places as far apart as Mozambique, Cape Verde, and Macau. This particular issue, denominated in réis, sits in the final years before Portugal abandoned that currency system entirely: the escudo replaced the réis in 1911, making 1909-dated notes short-lived by design.

Bradbury Wilkinson produced the plates in London, as they did for numerous colonial and semi-colonial issuers of the period who lacked domestic security printing infrastructure. The 50,000 réis face value — a consequence of the réis system's chronic inflation requiring unwieldy denominations — would have represented significant purchasing power in the territories where BNU notes circulated.