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50 Centavos
| Issuer | Companhia de Moçambique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1931 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Centavos (0.50) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The upper centre carries the Portuguese royal arms vignette set against a fine guilloche underprint in orange and green tones, flanked by duplicate serial numbers at left and right. The issuer's name appears in a bold letterpress panel across the centre, with the denomination in large intaglio lettering below, and the place and date of issue — Beira, 1 de Outubro de 1931 — inscribed at lower left alongside two manuscript signature lines. Denomination numerals '50' are repeated in the lower corners within ornamental cartouches, and vertical inscriptions in the side margins read 'CINCOENTA CENTAVOS'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | CINCOENTA CENTAVOS BRADBURY WILKINSON & Cº Lº GRAVADORES LONDRES |
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| Comments |
The Companhia de Moçambique was a chartered company granted administrative and fiscal control over the territories of Manica and Sofala — roughly today's central Mozambique — until its concession expired in 1942. It functioned as a quasi-state, issuing its own stamps, currency, and tariffs largely independent of Lisbon. This 50 Centavos belongs to a series produced by Bradbury Wilkinson at a moment when the company's commercial position was already weakening, squeezed between falling commodity revenues and the broader pressures of the Depression.
Bradbury Wilkinson handled the full series. Their involvement was common for British-adjacent colonial issuers, and the print quality reflects the firm's security work of the period.