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10 Rupees
| Issuer | Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London & China, Colombo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 10 Rupees |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Blue and brown bicolour note with the heading CEYLON BRANCH across the top in bold serif lettering, flanked by the denomination numerals 10 / RUPEES in ornate cartouches at left and right. A central vignette carries the Royal Arms supported by two lions, with the legend INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER in a circular surround above. The promise-to-pay text and place-date COLOMBO 1st Jany 1870 appear in letterpress across the middle register, above a large brown guilloche underprint bearing the words TEN RUPEES in block letters overprinted SPECIMEN. Sinhala and Tamil denomination inscriptions appear in the upper and lower borders. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Intricate engine-turned guilloche patterns form the central oval and flanking circular medallions on the reverse, with additional guilloche underprint on the obverse beneath the denomination text. |
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| Comments |
The Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London & China was one of the three major British overseas exchange banks operating across Asia during the mid-nineteenth century, and its Colombo branch issued notes independently of its branches in Bombay, Calcutta, Shanghai, and Hong Kong — each location produced distinct notes under its own signature authority. This particular issue predates the bank's 1893 absorption into the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China by more than two decades.
Ceylon branch-issue private banknotes from this period survive in tiny numbers. The colonial government progressively squeezed out private note circulation on the island through the 1870s and 1880s, and most examples that weren't redeemed were simply destroyed.