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1 Rixdollar
| Issuer | Government of Ceylon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1814 |
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| Printer | Silvester & Company (Silvester & Co), London, United Kingdom |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress on white paper. Seated Britannia vignette within laurel wreath at upper left, flanked by trilingual text in Sinhala and Tamil scripts. Central body carries the promise-to-pay legend in copperplate-style script, with oval cartouche bearing 'RIX DOLLAR. ONE.' at lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | පතාග එකයි இறையால ஒருறு COLOMBO 1st September 1814 The Government of Ceylon promise to pay to the Bearer on demand the Sum of ONE Rix Dollar in Copper Money at the Exchange of Forty Eight Stivers for One Rix Dollar on presenting this at the General Treasury. RIX DOLLAR. ONE COLOMBO Extd & Entd. (Translation: One rixdollar.) |
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| Comments |
Ceylon's first government-issued paper money, produced in London while the island was under British colonial administration following the 1815 Kandyan Convention — though this note predates that final annexation, issued during the period when British control was still consolidating after the Dutch handover of 1796. The Rixdollar itself was inherited Dutch currency, retained by the British as the practical unit of account for an economy not yet ready for conversion to sterling.
Silvester & Company handled very few colonial currency commissions; their involvement here is unusual and poorly documented. Only a handful of surviving examples are known.