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5 Rufiyaa
| Issuer | Government of Maldives |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947-1960 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Multicolour note with two central vignettes: the left vignette presents a Maldivian coastal scene with a palm tree, tropical vegetation, and a traditional Dhoni sailing vessel on calm water, while the right vignette shows a fishing boat at sea. The composition is enclosed within an ornate border of intricate guilloche patterns forming both the underprint and the perimeter frame. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in orange and purple, the reverse carries a central vignette of the Sakkarannya Gate at the Court of Eterekoilu within the Sultan's Palace complex, rendered in the fine architectural engraving style characteristic of Bradbury Wilkinson's intaglio work of the period. |
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| Comments |
The Maldives issued its first modern paper currency series in 1947, a decade before independence from British protection in 1965. Bradbury Wilkinson, the New Malden firm responsible for a large share of the colonial and post-colonial world's banknote output in this period, handled the printing — a routine arrangement for a British protectorate with no domestic printing capability whatsoever.
The Rufiyaa had replaced the older Lari-based accounting system in name only; traditional cowrie shell exchange persisted in the outer atolls well into the 1950s, making notes like this one largely a Malé phenomenon rather than a genuinely national currency.