Catalog
500 Dobras
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de S. Tomé e Príncipe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1989 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited, London, United Kingdom |
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| Obverse description | Violet, red, orange and tan intaglio print on multicolour underprint, with a turtle vignette at centre in the underprint. Portrait of national hero Rei Amador is positioned at right, with the national Coat of Arms at lower left. The bank title and denomination appear in letterpress across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in violet and tan on a multicolour guilloche underprint, the reverse centres on an intaglio vignette of a tropical waterfall amid lush indigenous vegetation, with palm fronds and broad-leafed foliage in the foreground. Denomination numerals "500" appear at lower left and upper right, with a guilloche rosette at right serving as a void for the watermark area. The printer's imprint is set in small type at lower right. |
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| Comments |
The dobra was introduced in 1977 following São Tomé and Príncipe's independence from Portugal two years earlier, replacing the escudo at par. By 1989, the country was mid-way through a painful structural adjustment program backed by the IMF and World Bank, which had forced a sharp devaluation and a liberalization of the previously state-controlled economy. The 500 dobra denomination was a practical response to that inflationary pressure.
Thomas De La Rue printed the entire series, a common arrangement for Lusophone African states lacking domestic printing infrastructure. Security is limited to a watermark — no security thread in this issue.