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5 Rupees
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation, Kandy |
|---|---|
| Year | 1851-1880 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Indian Rupee (1540-date) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central vignette of the British Royal Coat of Arms with lion and unicorn supporters, surrounded by the legend "INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER". Oval cartouches bearing "FIVE RUPEES" in English appear at both left and right, flanked by inscriptions in Sinhalese script. Below the vignette, the issuing place and date "KANDY, CEYLON" are printed in bold letterpress, followed by a promise-to-pay text in cursive script, and the authorisation line "By order of the Court of Directors" above manuscript signatures for Accountant and Manager. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER FIVE RUPEES KANDY, CEYLON THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION Promise to pay the Bearer on demand at their Branch here or at their Bank in Colombo FIVE RUPEES or the equivalent in the Currency of this Island Value received By order of the Court of Directors Accountant Manager |
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| Comments |
The Oriental Bank Corporation — originally chartered as the Bank of Western India in 1842 — expanded aggressively across British colonial territories and was among the first private banks to issue rupee-denominated notes in Ceylon. Its Kandy branch served the hill country's plantation economy, where tea and coffee estates generated substantial local currency demand distinct from the coastal trade centered on Colombo.
The bank collapsed in 1884, caught in the same wave of over-extended colonial banking failures that swept through Asia in that decade. Notes of this Kandy branch are considerably scarcer than equivalent Colombo issues, a reflection of the branch's smaller circulation area rather than any difference in printing quantity.