Rare 50 Escudos Note to Be Offered in Our New York International Sale

Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio is pleased to present a rare Angola Pick 54 1920 dated 50 Escudos note in our upcoming January auction to be held in conjunction with the New York International Numismatic Convention. The very large format note is among the most important offerings in the sale and is one we have never seen before. It is from the "Porto" series of 1920 where the denominations are interestingly the lowly 10, 20, 50 Centavos and then this high 50 Escudos denomination. Angola was one of the first Portuguese overseas territories to have notes circulating under the Banco Nacional Ultramarino, an institution established during 1864 in Lisbon. Most notes of this issuer were produced by London printing companies making this Portuguese printed type all the more important.

The note displays the bank name in large arched lettering at center with large "50" counters at the corners in dark blue and with light blue-green under-printing. The back design is brown with light orange under-prints and features a central vignette of a lake and trees within a vertically oriented oval at center with ornate birds flanking. The note retains nice overall body at the central left and right; the technical grade of Very Good is due to tape removal at the margins and vertically at center. Some thinning has resulted from the tape removal along with splits. These drawbacks however are of little consequence when considering the rarity, which we believe to be in the realm of two to three known. This item will certainly be a highlight in any collection it enters.