1 Rupee

Ceylon's small-format rupee notes of this period were a direct product of wartime logistics. With Japanese forces advancing through Southeast Asia in 1941–42, the island's status as a British imperial hub made currency supply a genuine operational concern. The Government of Ceylon — rather than the Ceylon Currency Board or any banking institution — retained direct note-issuing authority for the one-rupee denomination throughout this period, a deliberate policy holdover from earlier colonial fiscal practice.

De La Rue printed the series in London across nearly a decade, an unusually long run that produced multiple signature varieties. Collectors distinguish these primarily by the Secretary to the Treasury signatures, of which several appear across the P#34 type.