Catalog
50 Avos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pataca (1894-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Printed in purple and green, the obverse carries the Portuguese royal arms as a central vignette, flanked by Chinese characters denoting the denomination at each corner. The issuer's name BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO appears in a curved banner across the upper portion, with CINCOENTA AVOS and MACAU inscribed in the central panel below the arms. Serial numbers are printed in two positions along the upper field, and a manuscript signature of the Gerente appears in the lower right quadrant. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO CINCOENTA AVOS MAC�AU GERENTE 伍毫 50 |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino's wartime Macau issues occupy an odd corner of colonial monetary history. By 1942, Hong Kong was under Japanese occupation, yet this note was printed there — almost certainly completed before the December 1941 fall of the colony, with the notes subsequently held or transferred to Macau for release during the occupation period.
Macau itself remained nominally Portuguese and neutral throughout the Pacific War, a precarious status that kept it functioning as a financial outlier while every neighboring territory was absorbed into the Japanese sphere. The 50 Avos was a low-denomination workhorse in that environment.