Portugal

Next to Spain, Portugal had one of the largest colonial empires from the 15th century onwards. In the 17th century, however, Portugal lost more and more territories to the other colonial powers, especially the Netherlands and Great Britain. Brazil, the largest Portuguese colony, also gained independence in 1822. This left only a few colonial possessions in Africa, India, and East Asia.

Portugal had established trading posts in Angola and Mozambique since the 15th century. In the 19th century, Portugal increasingly expanded its territories. However, it did not succeed in combining Angola and Mozambique into one colony. Portuguese India consisted of three unconnected territories comprising the present-day Indian state of Goa and the districts of Daman and Diu.

Portugal established a central monetary system for its colonies in Africa and Asia. In 1864, the Banco Nacional Ultramarino was founded to manage monetary transactions in the Portuguese colonies. It had its headquarters in Lisbon and established branches in Luanda (Angola), Praia (Cape Verde), São Tomé and Príncipe, Margão (Goa) and Mozambique, among others. It had the sole right to issue notes and issued uniformly designed banknotes that differed only in their place of issue.