5000 Réis

Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied an unusual position in Portuguese colonial finance — chartered in Lisbon but functioning as the primary note-issuing authority across multiple overseas territories simultaneously, including Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, and Portuguese India. A single plate design from Bradbury Wilkinson could be overprinted or adapted for entirely different territories, which means this series requires careful attention to the specific territory of issue before any valuation or attribution is made.

By 1909, Bradbury Wilkinson had long been the preferred London security printer for Iberian colonial issuances. The firm's intaglio work from this period is technically consistent, if rarely adventurous.