20 Centavos

Banco Nacional Ultramarino issued this note for use in Portuguese Guinea — one of several West African territories served by the bank's fractional currency series from the early colonial period. The 1914 date places it at the very start of the First World War, when Portuguese Guinea's administrative infrastructure was thin and coin shortages were a structural problem rather than a wartime anomaly.

Bradbury Wilkinson printed the series in London, as they did for much of Portugal's colonial emission work during this period. The 20 Centavos denomination sits at the low end of practical utility — small enough that heavy circulation was the norm, and surviving examples showing light use are relatively uncommon.