2500 Escudos

The 2500 Escudos denomination was the highest value note Banco de Cabo Verde had issued to that point, introduced as the archipelago's economy was beginning to open cautiously after over a decade of single-party socialist rule under the PAIGC and its successor PAICV. The escudo had been reintroduced as a distinct Cape Verdean currency only in 1977, severing the monetary link with Guinea-Bissau that independence had initially preserved.

Thomas De La Rue's involvement here is unremarkable for Lusophone African issuers of the period — they held contracts across much of the region. Watermark-only security on a high-denomination note reflects the relatively modest anti-counterfeiting expectations applied to small island economies at the time.