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10 Rupees
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation, Colombo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1877 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central vignette of the Royal Arms flanked by two lions, surmounted by a crown, with the legend INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER arched above. Oval guilloche cartouches bearing the denomination TEN RUPEES appear at left and right, with the serial number C150915 repeated in both upper corners. The lower portion carries a manuscript promise-to-pay text in English reading 'Promise to pay the Bearer on demand at their Office here TEN RUPEES Value received', dated COLOMBO, CEYLON 15th Decr. 1877, with two manuscript signatures below the text By order of the Court of Directors. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | TEN RUPEES INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER C150915 COLOMBO, CEYLON 15th Decr. 1877 THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION Promise to pay the Bearer on demand at their Office here TEN RUPEES Value received By order of the Court of Directors Enct. Account Manager |
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| Comments |
The Oriental Bank Corporation was a British overseas bank chartered in 1851 and operating across India, Ceylon, and the Far East. By 1877 it was already in serious trouble — the bank collapsed entirely in 1884, wiped out by bad loans in the sugar and coffee industries of Ceylon and Mauritius, making surviving notes from its final decade genuinely uncommon.
The Colombo branch issues are scarcer than their Indian counterparts. Few saw long circulation; the bank's failure meant redemption was incomplete, and an unknown quantity of outstanding notes were simply never paid.