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50 Escudos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, United Kingdom (1856-1990) |
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| Obverse description | Red on multicolour underprint. Portrait of Francisco de Oliveira Chamiço at left, the Portuguese Coat of Arms at lower centre, and the bank seal at right, all set within an intricate guilloche border. Denomination and issuing authority inscriptions appear in intaglio lettering throughout the design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in red and orange on a multicolour guilloche underprint. A central circular vignette, framed by the curved legend "BANCO NACIONAL ULTRAMARINO", contains an allegorical seated female figure holding a sailing ship, evoking maritime discovery; denomination numerals "50" appear at both left and right within elaborate floral and scroll ornaments. At the top, a rectangular panel carries the territorial payability inscription in green lettering above the bold legend "CABO VERDE". |
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| Comments |
Banco Nacional Ultramarino occupied an unusual position in Portuguese colonial finance — it held the note-issuing monopoly not just for one territory but across multiple overseas possessions simultaneously, a commercial banking concession that generated persistent friction with Lisbon throughout the early twentieth century. This 1921 issue was printed by Bradbury Wilkinson at their New Malden works, a firm whose intaglio security printing was considered among the most technically reliable available to smaller issuing authorities at the time.
The early 1920s were difficult for BNU's balance sheet. Portuguese colonial trade had been severely disrupted by the First World War, and inflation on the mainland was eroding confidence in escudo-denominated instruments across the overseas territories.