Banknote News: Glory to Age of Discovery - Portuguese 500 escudos in 1966 serie

The Portuguese 500 escudo banknote of 1966 (and reprinted in 1979) is commonly regarded as the most beautiful Portuguese banknote. I was surprised when I received this masterpiece by banknote printing company JEZ (Johan Enschede en Zonen, Netherlands). The design, style, and printing quality of this banknote are as timeless as they are admirable.

In the 1950's most designs of world banknotes could be generalized as being "conservative". These notes focused on choices of deep colors (e.g. dark-blue, brown, dark-red, etc.) rather than design and style. However, shortly thereafter the Dutch began to lead the way in the realm of creativity. They made it a habit of breaking old fashions and rules. On this particular 500 escudo banknote one can see two dramatic African maps in the background - with flying birds, rolling mountains, and mysterious palaces and forts. The two exquisite compass roses with clear details are also amazing. Moreover, the choice of color - the Dutch often use yellowish brown and light blue - makes the entire banknotes an old but attractive map from the 15th century.

King Joao II, also know as "the Perfect Prince", who is featured on the obverse side of the banknote, was also a legend. As a perfect king and a heir of Henry the Navigator, he wrote a series of stories during Age of Discovery. He appointed famous Vasco da Gama to discover and conquer Africa and India, all the while keeping his kingdom in good governance. He contributed a firm foundation to the Portuguese Empire. Even the Spanish bent their knee to him and new Spain was almost combined with the Portuguese. On the banknote, Joao has a moderate expression as a perfect king. The JEZ are good at representing original paintings by living detailed-engraving .

The reverse side is also outstanding. It features beautiful Elmina castle as a symbol of colonization standing on the golden coast. Two figures from the Monument to the Discoveries are beside the compass rose: the navigator Gil Eanes and the mathematician Pedro Nunes. Interestingly, Gil was a man of Joao's great grandfather - Henry the Navigator, and Pedro was the teacher of the grandson of Joao. In the hands of these two men are a compass and an armilla. The compass was engraved with twelve months, and the armilla was with warps and the symbols of twelve constellations. The meaning of these figures are obvious – merits and glories are kept in history and inherited by Portuguese continuously.

The security measures of these Escudos are also attractive. The technique of Dutch watermark is fantastic. The watermark of Joao II appears living and is quite detailed. The huge compass rose in double-side offset printing is printed with clear details and in precious colors. In that era, very few countries had this anti-counterfeiting measure. More amazingly, there is a see-through picture on both-sides which was accomplished using the rotogravure printing system – a delicate compass on the bottom left corner. In my opinion, this security method is unprecedented and has not been repeated in banknote history. In addition, JEZ uses a Morse code security thread, and the name of Joao II is presented on the line. Moreover, the compass rose on the reverse side is made up of intensive concentric circles for anti-copying. JEZ is an amazing all-rounder company, and has my admiration.

This Portuguese banknote shows the unmatched quality and innovations of JEZ banknote printing company, and also the unmatched glories of the Portuguese Age of Discovery. Although the banknote is not particularly costly, it will be always be cherished by me.