10 000 Rupees

Ceylon's highest-denomination note of the postwar period, the 10,000 Rupee was never intended for ordinary commerce. These were interbank settlement instruments, used primarily for large treasury transfers in the years immediately following the island's separation from the Indian monetary system in 1946. Actual circulation numbers were tiny, and a significant proportion were retired and destroyed through normal treasury procedures rather than worn out in trade.

De La Rue produced the series during a politically transitional moment — Ceylon would achieve Dominion status within a year of this note's issue. The P#39A designation distinguishes this from closely related signature varieties, a distinction that matters considerably to valuation.