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50 Centavos seal type III
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO EM S. TIAGO CINCOENTA CENTAVOS MOEDA CORRENTE LISBOA, 5 de Novembro de 1914. (Translation: National Bank Overseas in S. Tiago Fifty Cents in currency Lisbon, November 5, 1914.) |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown intaglio, the reverse centres on an oval vignette of a standing female figure in classical dress, holding a fishing net, with a tall-masted sailing ship in the background. Denomination panels reading '0$50' appear in guilloche cartouches to the left and right of the central vignette. The bank name is lettered in a bold arc across the upper portion of the design, with the imprint of Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., Engravers, Londres at the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino's 50 Centavos fractional notes of 1914 were a direct response to wartime coin shortages — Portugal's entry into the broader conflict of the First World War created acute hoarding of silver and bronze, and small-denomination paper had to fill the gap. The "seal type III" designation reflects successive overprinting campaigns used to extend the note's authorized circulation period, a common BNU practice that can make precise dating of individual examples genuinely complicated.
Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement gives the note a higher baseline of print quality than contemporary Portuguese metropolitan issues. The firm's intaglio work was considered among the most forgery-resistant available to colonial issuers at the time.