Collection PL

About

The First Republic (1910–1926) left Portugal a short but ornate paper-money record. At its peak sits the 50 Mil Réis of 1917, a large, allegorical design where engraving, tint and watermark choices carried the weight of state credit. To reach a finished plate, Banco de Portugal’s printer advanced through progressive proofs that isolate line work and spacing in single-color states, and then locked the approved layout as a Specimen without serials or live signatures. Those steps survive as the cleanest evidence of intent, long before tills and counters left their edits.

The pair presented here — a front progressive proof and a full specimen — captures that workflow end to end. Read together, they show how ornaments, portrait fields and guilloche were tuned, where margins were fixed, and how the security vocabulary of the Republic was set on paper. Use the filters above to pivot by type or year as this section grows with further proofs, specimens and archival pulls that document Portugal’s early twentieth-century printing at plate-true resolution.

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Portugal 50 Mil Réis Specimen, ND (1917), Pick 110s, PMG 35

Portugal ND (1917) — Banco de Portugal 50 Mil Réis Specimen (Pick 110s)

Specimen of the Banco de Portugal 50 Mil Réis, the grandest denomination of the First Republic’s intricate 1916–1919 issue. Printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., London, without serials or signatures and perforated SPECIMEN, it reveals the full design before numbering and underprint were applied. PMG 35 Choice Very Fine. ... Read more →

PortugalSpecimen191750 Mil RéisPMG 35 Choice Very Fine Portugal First RepublicPick 110sPick 110ND 1917High DenominationPortugal1917
Held
Portugal 50 Mil Réis front progressive proof, ND (1917), Pick 110pp1, PMG 25 EPQ

Portugal ND (1917) — Banco de Portugal 50 Mil Réis Front Progressive Proof (Pick 110pp1)

Front progressive proof for the Banco de Portugal 50 Mil Réis, printed in a single intaglio color to test composition and line fidelity before the final multi-color stones were prepared. Without underprint or overprint, it exposes the engraver’s hand—the bare guilloche network and portrait cartouche that later defined the completed note. PMG 25 EPQ Very Fine. ... Read more →

PortugalProgressive Proof191750 Mil RéisPMG 25 EPQ Very Fine Portugal First RepublicPick 110pp1ND 1917Pick 110Portugal1917
Held
Portugal 1799 Real Erario 20000 reis apólice issued in Lisboa, serial number 37723 in red, blind embossed seal on the face, no red overprint present, with multiple official ink seals on the reverse

Portugal 1799 — Real Erario 20000 Reis Apólice, Original Issue, No Overprint, Lisboa No. 37723

A Portuguese royal-era public debt instrument issued in Lisboa in 1799 under the authority of the Real Erario, denominated 20000 reis and payable to bearer. This document is an apólice, a formal treasury obligation representing state-backed debt issued during a period of administrative continuity in late eighteenth-century Portugal, prior to the political and fiscal disruptions of the nineteenth century. This example belongs to the original issue phase of Portuguese treasury apólices and predates the period commonly associated with the War of the Brothers. ... Read more →

PortugalPublic Debt Bond179920000 ReisVery Fine Public Debt BondApolice20000 ReisPayable to BearerBlind Embossed SealMultiple Reverse SealsNo OverprintOriginal IssuePre War of the BrothersReal ErarioLisboaPortuguese Treasury FinanceRoyal Era Fiscal PaperEighteenth Century State DebtAdministrative Validation SealsFiscal Control HistorySecurity Printing HistoryPortuguese Monetary HistoryPortugal17991811Museum GradeR9 Extremely Rare
Held
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