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5 Rufiyaa
| Issuer | Government of Maldives |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947-1960 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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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. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#4a - 1947 P#4b - 1960 |
| 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.