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5 Pounds
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation, Colombo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1846-1850 |
| Type | Pattern or trial banknote |
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| Obverse description | The note is headed 'CEYLON BRANCH.' in bold letterpress at the top, with the denomination 'FIVE' appearing in two oval guilloche cartouches at upper left and right. The central vignette presents the British Royal Arms supported by a lion and a unicorn, engraved in fine intaglio style. The main text panel, set within a ruled border, carries the promise to pay inscription in copperplate script, concluding with 'FIVE POUNDS Value received,' below which 'BY ORDER of the BOARD of DIRECTORS.' and the imprint 'BATHO & BINGLEY, 26, Lombard Street, London.' appear, with 'SPECIMEN.' overprinted and spaces left for number, date, endorser, accountant, and manager. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse of this specimen trial note is not depicted. |
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| Comments |
The Oriental Bank Corporation — chartered in 1851 as a successor to the Bank of Western India — was already operating under that name informally before the royal charter was granted, which is precisely why notes from this Colombo branch predate the formal incorporation. The bank functioned as a quasi-central institution across British colonial Asia, and its Ceylon notes circulated alongside Company rupee issues in a currency environment that was genuinely chaotic for merchants dealing across Colombo, Bombay, and Mauritius simultaneously.
Batho & Bingley of Lombard Street were a respected London security printer of the period, though they were eventually overshadowed by Perkins Bacon as colonial note printing consolidated. Examples from this 1846–1850 window are rare — the bank itself collapsed in 1884, and surviving pre-charter colonial branch notes were never common to begin with.