Catalog
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| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#5B |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO O THESOUREIRO DA AGENCIA DE BOLAMA PAGARÁ Á VISTA A PORTADOR CINCOENTA MIL RÉIS EM MOEDA CORRENTE VALOR RECIBIDO LISBOA, I DE MARÇO DE 1909. (Translation: National Bank Overseas the Treasurer of the Agency of Bolama pay to the bearer Fifty Thousand Reis in currency amount received Lisbon, March 1, 1909.) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | PAGAVEL NA AGENCIA DE BOLAMA BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO (Translation: Payable in agency of Bolama National Bank Overseas) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino served as the colonial note-issuing authority across Portugal's overseas territories, and this 50,000 Reis note is distinguished by its Bolama seal — the administrative capital of Portuguese Guinea at the time, a posting so remote and commercially thin that notes assigned there circulated in tiny numbers. Bradbury Wilkinson produced the series in London, as they did for a substantial portion of Portuguese colonial paper across this period.
The Reis denomination itself was already obsolete currency doctrine by 1909; Portugal had been running parallel escudo planning for years and would formally convert in 1911. Notes at this face value were effectively large-denomination instruments in a territory with almost no banking infrastructure to absorb them.