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20 Centavos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 120 × 72 mm |
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| Obverse description | Blue and yellow note with an elaborate guilloche underprint at centre; at left, a circular guilloche medallion bears the numeral '20' over 'CENTAVOS', while at right a hexagonal vignette encloses the Portuguese arms with flanking laurel branches. A central red seal carries the bank's steamship device within the legend 'BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO / COLONIAS, COMMERCIO, AGRICULTURA'. The upper field bears the date 'Lisboa, 5 de Novembro de 1914' and the place of issue 'Lourenço Marques', with two manuscript signatures below for the Vice-Governor and the Governor. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO EM LOURENÇO MARQUES VINTE VINTE CENTAVOS MOEDA CORRENTE LISBOA, 5 de Novembro de 1914. O VICE-GOVERNADOR O GOVERNADOR BRADBURY WILKINSON & Cª GRAVADORES, LONDRES |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied an unusual position in Portuguese colonial finance — it held note-issuing rights across multiple overseas territories simultaneously, and this 1914 20 Centavos piece reflects the wartime scramble for small-denomination paper that erupted across Europe and its colonies when silver and bronze coinage vanished from circulation almost overnight after August 1914.
Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement places it among the more technically accomplished small-change emergency issues of the period. The question of which specific territory this note was intended for is the critical one — BNU issued near-identical low-denomination notes for Angola, Mozambique, and other possessions concurrently, and the Pick 60 designation is the key differentiator here.