Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RASSL)- Monthly Public Lecture
Posted on February 21st, 2019
Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RASSL)
Public Lecture
Lankan Banknotes from 1785 to Modern”
by
Dr Kavan Ratnatunga
On
Monday 25th February 2019 at 5.00 p.m.
at the
Gamini Dissanayake Auditorium
No. 96, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 07
ALL ARE WELCOME
Since the Dutch first introduced Paper currency for Ceylon in 1785 to modern currency issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, is a 230-year history of change which reflects changes in Economics, Politics and Technology. Early notes in Rix Dollars were redeemable in Copper. Private Banks such as The Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London & China – Ceylon Branch, Oriental Bank Corporation issued notes from 1844, till they crashed in early 1880 due to the Coffee Blyth. Boer Prisoner of War notes issued around 1900. The government of Ceylon issued Notes with signatures of the Commissioner of Currency from 1885 to 1949. The Central Bank issue Notes under the signature of the Minister of Finance and its Governor from 1951 to present. They are just legal Tender with no intrinsic value. The language on the notes changed from Dutch to English to Sinhala with varying amount of other languages. Only the denomination has always been given in all three languages. Watermarks were introduced around the 1840s and are hardly documented. Ultraviolet printing was introduced in 1970 and their beauty remains unseen by the public who handle the Notes.