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1 Escudo
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Printer | Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, United Kingdom (1856-1990) |
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| Obverse description | Portrait vignette of Francisco de Oliveira Chamiço at left, with the seal of the Banco Nacional Ultramarino at centre; the denomination "UM ESCUDO" appears centrally within a guilloche underprint, and the Portuguese National Coat of Arms is positioned below. Ornamental borders frame the composition in a classical intaglio style. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central oval vignette of a seated allegorical female figure in classical robes, turned toward the right, with a sailing ship visible in the distance behind her; the vignette is surrounded by an ornate green guilloche border with floral and geometric corner medallions. The bank name arcs around the central oval in bold lettering, and the denomination numeral "1" appears on both flanking panels. |
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| Comments |
Bradbury Wilkinson produced this note for the Banco Nacional Ultramarino, the Portuguese colonial bank whose remit covered territories from Angola and Mozambique to Timor and Macau. The 1 Escudo denomination was a practical workaround — by 1921, low-denomination coinage was chronically short in circulation across Portugal's overseas territories, and small-value notes filled the gap that metal couldn't.
The BNU held a unique position: it was simultaneously a commercial bank and an issuing authority operating across multiple continents under a single metropolitan charter, which created persistent logistical headaches for note distribution. Exactly which territory this specific issue was intended for matters — the BNU issued superficially similar 1 Escudo notes for different colonies in this period, and Pick 55 is catalogued to Portuguese Guinea.