500 Escudos

Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied an unusual position in Portuguese colonial finance — it held note-issuing rights across multiple overseas territories simultaneously, and the same printer, Bradbury Wilkinson, produced notes for several of those territories under broadly similar mandates. Distinguishing which plates and design elements were shared across issues is a known complication for specialists working this series.

The 1941 date places this note squarely in wartime, though Portugal's neutrality meant colonial financial operations continued without the disruptions affecting most European issuers. High-denomination notes of this period from BNU territories tend to survive in smaller numbers simply because they saw limited retail circulation.