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20 Centavos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Centavos (0.20) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The face is dominated by a central guilloche oval cartouche bearing the denomination VINTE CENTAVOS in bold letterpress, flanked by ornate column vignettes with allegorical figures. The bank title BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO EM LOANDA arches across the upper field, with the date Lisboa, 1 de Abril de 1918 inscribed below the central cartouche alongside the O GOVERNADOR signature line. A serial number in prefix-letter format appears at lower left, with fine radiating line underprint filling the background. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | COLONIAS. COMMERCIO. AGRICULTURA 20 CENTAVOS BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO (Translation: Colonies, Commerce, Agriculture, National Overseas Bank) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino's wartime fractional notes of 1918 were emergency responses to a coin shortage that had grown acute across Portuguese colonial territories and metropolitan Portugal alike. Bronze and nickel had been diverted or were simply hoarding, and small-change paralysis was hitting everyday commerce hard. The BNU stepped in where the mint could not.
P#50 belongs to a family of low-denomination emergency issues produced in Lisbon for domestic circulation — unusual for a bank whose primary mandate was colonial finance. The BNU's normal business was the overseas territories, which makes this metropolitan stopgap issue a minor institutional oddity worth noting.