More than half (54%) of the value of escudo banknotes that have expired since the withdrawal of the escudo from circulation, totaling €186.8 million, was never exchanged. Some notes on it here
I suspect it never made it out of the Portuguese Mint, hence it never really existed. If that's the case it was never monetized, i.e., it was just pretty confetti.
I am not a paper guy, and don't think that any US paper has been demonitzed. Most would know not to spend the rare ones.
I get the impression these are notes already issued and may have been held onto for old times sake. Interesting it means the bank becomes a big winner - "According to the central bank, “the value of non-returned banknotes constituted, over time an extraordinary benefit for Banco de Portugal, given that the responsibility for paying the banknotes issued could not be fulfilled”."
I have one or two escudo notes from a Navy port visit to Lisbon in the late 90’s. Along with a silver Expo 98 commemorative I bought at a Portuguese Mint store at a mall there. Brings back memories.
Note designs from Portugal are very intriguing, full of history & fun to collect. Here's one of my favourite pick-ups from that country:
Beautiful designs compared to most of today's banknotes. I have Portugal on my local watchlist but very little comes up. However, I might be able to obtain these - 1971 20 Escudos Not my pictures 1984 100 Escudos
They look to be in great shape! I have the same year (different signature combo) on the 20 & a 1981 100 Escudos. Often Portuguese notes can have 6-10 different signature combos. I also liked the last series. This 500 Escudos was printed in 1997:
That is a beautiful note from a very nice series. I have the 1000 and 5000 in used. 1998 1987 ....and here is the used 100 Esc from 1984
