50 000 Reis

Banco Nacional Ultramarino was Portugal's primary instrument for colonial finance, and notes of this denomination were intended for large commercial transactions in the overseas territories rather than everyday exchange. The 50,000 Réis face value was substantial — by 1909 this represented serious purchasing power in any Portuguese colonial market.

Bradbury Wilkinson printed this series at their New Malden works in Surrey. Their intaglio work of this period is technically accomplished, and the BNU contracted them repeatedly across multiple colonial currencies through the early twentieth century.

P#43 is scarce in any grade; the 1909 BNU issues generally survived in low numbers, partly because large-denomination notes in active commercial use suffer harder attrition than low-value retail notes.