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5 Rupees Jaffna; Oriental Bank Corporation
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Rupees |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on pink underprint; allegorical enthroned woman flanked by lions at left, bust of Mercury with caduceus at right, and the British Royal coat of arms at upper centre. Bilingual text in Sinhala and Tamil script appears below the central vignette. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 5 FIVE රුපියල් පහයි ஐந்து ரூபாய் (Translation: Five rupees.) |
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| Comments |
The Oriental Bank Corporation collapsed in May 1884, making any note issued in its final years — including this 1881 Jaffna branch issue — a relic of one of British Asia's most spectacular banking failures. The Corporation had overextended itself across Ceylon, India, Mauritius, and the Far East, and when the crash came, noteholders in branch towns like Jaffna were left scrambling. Bradbury Wilkinson printed for numerous colonial issuers of the period, and the plates for Oriental Bank branch notes typically carried the specific payable location as a typeset addition to a shared base design.
Jaffna branch issues are considerably scarcer than Colombo examples from the same series.