2 Rixdollars

Ceylon's rixdollar was an inherited Dutch colonial currency that the British administration kept in use well after taking control of the island in 1796, largely because replacing it would have disrupted an already fragile local monetary system. These government paper notes were not issued by a bank — Ceylon had none at the time — but directly by the colonial administration, an arrangement that was itself a source of chronic distrust among merchants accustomed to metallic settlement.

The rixdollar was eventually demonetized in 1828, replaced by sterling at a fixed rate of 1s 6d. Notes remaining in circulation at that moment were largely unredeemed, which is part of why this series survives in such small numbers today.