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1 Pound Asiatic Banking Corporation
| Issuer | Asiatic Banking Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1865-1866 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Brown underprint with black letterpress text on cream paper. The corporation's royal charter seal is at upper centre, flanked by two oval ONE POUND denomination panels; elaborate guilloche borders frame all four sides with Sinhala and Tamil legends. The promise-to-pay text, place, date, and signatures appear in the lower portion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | යෙසියාතික්බැන්කිඬ්කොර්පොරේෂන් 1 ASIATIC BANKING CORPORATION ONE POUND THE ASIATIC BANKING CORPORATION promise to pay the Bearer on Demand at their Branch here or at their Bank in Colombo ONE POUND in the Cur- -rency of the Island, value received. KANDY, CEYLON 1st November 1865 By order of the Court of Directors. Entd Manager පවඬ් එකයි பவுண்ட் ஒன்று රුපියල් දහයයි ரூபாய் பத்து யெசியதிக் பெங்கிங்கொர்ப்பொறேஷன் (Translation: Asiatic Banking Corporation. One pound. Ten rupees. Asiatic Banking Corporation.) |
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| Comments |
The Asiatic Banking Corporation was one of several British overseas banks chartered in the mid-1860s speculative boom — a period when London financiers flooded Asia with undercapitalized joint-stock institutions. This one collapsed in 1866, the same year as the Overend, Gurney & Co. failure that triggered a wider banking panic. The window between establishment and failure was narrow enough that few notes ever reached extended circulation.
Smith, Elder & Co. are better known as publishers — Thackeray, Charlotte Brontë — than as security printers, which makes their involvement here an oddity worth noting.