50 Dobras

São Tomé and Príncipe gained independence from Portugal in 1975, and the Banco Nacional was established almost immediately as one of the new state's first sovereign institutions. The dobra replaced the Portuguese escudo at par, though the island economy it served was almost entirely dependent on cocoa — a single-commodity structure that made stable note issue more aspiration than reality throughout the early independence years.

Bradbury, Wilkinson handled much of the currency work for newly independent African states during this period, and their New Malden facility brought consistent intaglio quality to governments with limited printing infrastructure of their own.