Catalog
1 Pound
| Issuer | Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London & China, Colombo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1864-1869 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CEYLON BRANCH INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER ONE KANDY THE CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA, LONDON & CHINA Promises to pay the Bearer on demand at its Branch in KANDY in the Currency of the Island ONE POUND Value received. By order of the Court of Directors Ent.d Account MANAGER SPECIMEN |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in blue and presents a plain, uncluttered layout typical of trial or specimen issues. A large central oval guilloche medallion dominates the field, flanked symmetrically on each side by a circular guilloche rosette bearing the numeral 1 at its centre. The background is formed by a fine engine-turned lathe-work pattern, and a faint SPECIMEN overprint in red-brown is visible through the paper from the obverse. |
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The Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China was one of the British overseas exchange banks operating under Royal Charter, and its Colombo branch issued notes in the 1860s to serve Ceylon's export trade — principally coffee at that point, before leaf blight destroyed the industry in the following decade. Ceylon had no local central bank and the colonial monetary environment was largely managed through these chartered institutions competing for commercial business.
P#118K is among the rarest survivals from this issuer. The Colombo branch series is catalogued but almost entirely absent from the auction record, likely because most branch notes were retired through the bank's own clearing rather than accumulating in private hands.