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2 Pounds
| Issuer | Government of Ceylon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1827-1856 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on plain paper. Central vignette of Britannia seated, holding spear and shield, with a lion at left and cornucopia at right; elephant and sailing vessels in the background. Trilingual text in English, Sinhala, and Tamil frames the denomination panel. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CEYLON ලංකාවෙ ආන්ඩුවෙකසලප්පුව இலங்கைஅரசாட்சியின்கடதாசி நோட்டு 2 The Bearer hereof is entitled to receive on demand TWO POUNDS පවුම් දෙකයි இரண்டு பவுன் at the GENERAL TREASURY in the Currency of this Island at COLOMBO. පවුම් දෙකයි TWO இரண்டு பவுன் Exd & Entd Perkins, Bacon & Petch, London Patent Hardened Steel Plate. (Translation: Government of Ceylon. Government of Ceylon banknote. Two pounds.) |
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| Comments |
Ceylon's government-issued pound notes occupied an unusual administrative position: Ceylon used a hybrid currency system through much of the nineteenth century, with the rixdollar remaining in use alongside sterling-denominated instruments until the rixdollar was finally demonetized in 1828. This 2 Pound note therefore belongs to the very early period of sterling normalization on the island.
Perkins, Bacon & Petch were among the first printers to industrialize steel-plate intaglio engraving for security documents, a technique Jacob Perkins had brought from the United States. Their anti-counterfeiting geometry work was considered state-of-the-art for the period.
The thirty-year date span on this issue — 1827 to 1856 — suggests a single plate run with manuscript date completion at the Colonial Treasury in Colombo.