Catalog
50 Escudos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de S. Tomé e Príncipe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1976 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Escudos |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Brown-violet intaglio print on a multicolour guilloche underprint, with the base note being the Banco Nacional Ultramarino P#37 issue dated 20 November 1958. A portrait vignette of Dom Afonso V is positioned at right, the Portuguese Coat of Arms at upper centre, and the bank seal at left. A red letterpress overprint applied to both sides carries the new issuing authority name "Banco Nacional de S. Tomé e Príncipe" and the reissue date of 1 June 1976. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO PAGÁVEL EM S. TOMÉ E PRINCIPE CINQUENTA ESCUDOS BRADBURY, WILKINSON & Co. Lto. GRAVADORES, NEW MALDEN, SURREY, INGLATERRA (Translation: National Overseas Bank Payable in St. Thomas and Prince Fifty Escudos Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd. Engravers, New Malden, Surrey, England) |
| 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 |
This note marks the first independent currency issue of São Tomé and Príncipe, which became sovereign in July 1975 after five centuries of Portuguese rule. The newly established Banco Nacional commissioned Bradbury Wilkinson — a standard choice for anglophone and newly independent states in this period — to produce the series, a decision that reflected both the limited printing infrastructure available to the new government and the British firm's deep experience supplying post-colonial African states.
The escudo denomination survived independence only briefly. A 1977 monetary reform replaced it with the dobra, making this 1976 series one of the shortest-lived sovereign currency issues on the African continent.