50 000 Reis 50 Mil Reis; overprint

Portugal's financial crisis of 1891 — triggered by the collapse of Brazilian rubber revenues, chronic trade deficits, and a catastrophic debt service burden — forced the government to suspend gold payments in May of that year. The Banco de Portugal responded with emergency measures, one of which was the creation of high-denomination overprinted notes to stretch existing paper money supply. This 50,000 Réis was produced by overprinting earlier stock at the bank's own Lisbon facility rather than commissioning new engraved plates abroad.

The 1891 suspension proved permanent in practice; Portugal did not return to the gold standard until 1931, by which point the réis itself had been replaced by the escudo at a rate of 1,000 to one.