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20 Centavos
| Issuer | Companhia de Moçambique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
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| Printer | Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, United Kingdom (1856-1990) |
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| Obverse description | Blue note with the bank title BANCO DA BEIRA in large letters across the upper centre, flanked by the denomination numeral 20 at left and right within ornamental panels, with a Portuguese arms vignette at top centre and guilloche underprint throughout. The legend PAGARA A VISTA AO PORTADOR appears below the bank title, with VINTE CENTAVOS within a central oval cartouche, and MOEDA CORRENTE below; the place and date BEIRA, 15 de Setembro de 1919 is printed at lower centre alongside manuscript signatures of the Gerente and two Administradores. A diagonal red letterpress overprint reading COMPANHIA DE MOCAMBIQUE runs across the face, with PRATA inscribed in a rectangular panel at the top. Overprint on Banco da Beira P#R2. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in blue, the reverse is dominated by a large central circle enclosing the bold numeral 20, surrounded by a fine guilloche underprint and flanked by symmetrical vignettes of tropical foliage and ornamental cross motifs at the lower corners. A curved ribbon banner carries the legend VINTE CENTAVOS to the left and MOEDA CORRENTE to the right of the central medallion. The printer's imprint of Bradbury Wilkinson and Company appears in small text along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Companhia de Moçambique was a chartered company granted administrative and economic control over the territories of Manica and Sofala from 1891 — a colonial concession arrangement that gave it the authority to issue its own currency entirely separate from the Portuguese colonial administration in Lourenço Marques. This note is a product of that unusual quasi-governmental status.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the series in London, a natural choice given the firm's long relationship with colonial concession issuers across Africa. The 1919 date places this issue in the post-war period when small-denomination paper was filling a chronic coin shortage across Portuguese Africa.