50 Patacas Banco Nacional Ultramarino

Banco Nacional Ultramarino had served as Macau's note-issuing authority since 1902, a role it would retain until 1995 — one of the longest uninterrupted colonial banking arrangements in Asia. The 1945 date places this note in a peculiar limbo: Japan had occupied Macau's neighbouring territories throughout the war, yet Portugal's neutrality kept the enclave itself out of direct occupation, and the BNU continued issuing currency under conditions of extreme commercial isolation.

Waterlow & Sons produced the plate work in London, though wartime logistics made delivery uncertain. Whether this 1945-dated issue was printed and shipped before or immediately after the Japanese surrender is difficult to establish with precision from the note alone.