Catalog
50 Avos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in red, with an intricate symmetrical guilloche pattern composed of two large rosette medallions flanking a central circular vignette bearing the numeral 50 and the inscription AVOS. Chinese characters (伍毫) appear on either side, and the full bank name in Chinese script runs along the bottom margin. The issuer name BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO and denomination CINCOENTA AVOS are repeated in a curved legend at the top. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO CINCOENTA AVOS MACAU 伍毫 大西洋國海外通理銀行 |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino, a Lisbon-based colonial bank with note-issuing authority across multiple Portuguese territories, produced this 50 Avos for circulation in Timor — one of its more remote and economically marginal outposts. The Avo denominations filled a practical gap: the territory's trade economy ran on very small transactions, and Portuguese metropolitan coinage rarely made it this far in sufficient quantities.
The Nourse Printing Press attribution is unusual enough to warrant caution — this printer appears in very few colonial currency records, and documentation on its exact role in the 1920 Timor issues remains thin.