Catalog
50 Escudos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Red on multicolour underprint. Portrait of Francisco de Oliveira Chamiço at left, flanked by the Portuguese Coat of Arms at lower centre and the bank seal at right. Two overprinted 'S. TOMÉ e PRÍNCIPE' inscriptions appear in red. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed predominantly in red. A central vignette depicts a female allegorical figure with sailing vessels in the background. A 'S. TOMÉ e PRÍNCIPE' overprint appears in green. |
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| Comments |
Bradbury, Wilkinson printed this note for Banco Nacional Ultramarino, the state-backed colonial bank that held monopoly rights over currency issuance across Portugal's overseas territories. The 1921 date places it amid a chaotic period for Portuguese colonial finance — metropolitan Portugal had been struggling with wartime inflation and fiscal instability since the early 1910s, and the escudo itself had only replaced the old milréis system in 1911, meaning the currency framework was barely a decade old when this note was struck in London.
The BNU's reliance on Bradbury, Wilkinson throughout this period was consistent across multiple colonial territories, with plates sometimes shared or adapted between issues.