Catalog
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| Issuer | Central Bank of Ceylon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1951 |
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| Size | 107 × 59 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON This note is issued on behalf of the Government of Ceylon and is legal tender in Ceylon for the payment of any amount ONE RUPEE 20TH JANUARY 1951 MINISTER OF FINANCE CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON |
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| Reverse lettering | CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON ONE RUPEE රුපියලේ ஒரு ரூபாய் BRADBURY, WILKINSON & C° L° NEW MALDEN, SURREY, ENGLAND |
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| Comments |
Ceylon's Central Bank was established in August 1950, and this 1 Rupee note belongs to the very first series it issued — a deliberate assertion of monetary independence from the former Currency Board system that had operated since 1884 under colonial administration. The transition mattered politically: the Currency Board had kept Ceylon's reserves entirely in sterling, with no discretionary monetary policy whatsoever.
Bradbury Wilkinson's New Malden facility handled a significant volume of Commonwealth and colonial successor-state work in the early 1950s, making Ceylon one of several newly independent nations that retained British security printers even while shedding British monetary oversight.