50 Centavos

Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied an unusual position among colonial banks — chartered in Lisbon but operating as the note-issuing authority across Portuguese overseas territories from Mozambique to Timor. This 50 Centavos belongs to its metropolitan Portuguese series, issued the same year Europe went to war and Portugal was still less than four years clear of its monarchy's collapse.

Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement is worth noting. The New Malden firm handled security printing for dozens of colonial and semi-peripheral issuers during this period, and their intaglio work on small-denomination notes was consistently tighter than the lithographic alternatives most budget issuers accepted.