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10 Rupees
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 10 Rupees |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on cream paper within a fine geometric border. The British Royal Arms vignette, supported by a lion and unicorn, is centered at the top with the inscription INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER arching above it; oval guilloche cartouches bearing the denomination TEN / 10 / RUPEES appear at upper left and right. The body of the note carries the issuer name THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION in bold letterpress above a hatched underprint panel containing the promise-to-pay text in script, with the place and date HALDAMULLE, CEYLON 1st Jan. 1870 above, and denomination and authorization lines below, flanked by printed signature roles. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | රුපියල් දහය பத்துரூபாய் TEN RUPEES 10 INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER HALDAMULLE, CEYLON 1st Jan. 1870 THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION Promise to pay the Bearer on demand at their Branch here, or at their Bank in Colombo TEN RUPEES Value received. By order of the Court of Directors, Entd. Accountt. Agent. (Translation: Ten Rupees.) |
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| Comments |
The Oriental Bank Corporation was a British overseas bank chartered in 1851 and headquartered in London, with operations stretching from India to Mauritius, Ceylon, China, and beyond. It collapsed spectacularly in 1884, making surviving pre-failure notes — particularly those from its earlier decades — genuinely uncommon. By 1870, the bank was already overextended, though that would not become apparent to depositors for another fourteen years.
Perkins, Bacon & Petch were the dominant security printers of the period, their steel-intaglio process producing the fine-line work that made forgery difficult. The same firm printed postage stamps for dozens of colonial territories throughout this era.