Catalog
10 Rupees
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation, Colombo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881-1884 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse carries the bold heading 'THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION / INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER' at the top, with 'COLOMBO' in a panel above and 'CEYLON' at the foot. The Royal Arms vignette occupies the upper centre, flanked by bilingual (Sinhalese and Tamil) inscriptions and the serial number repeated on both sides. To the left, an oval vignette contains a standing allegorical female figure, while to the right a second oval vignette bears a classical female portrait with flowing drapery; numeral '10' appears in each corner. The promise-to-pay text reads 'Promise to pay the Bearer on demand at their Office here TEN RUPEES Value received' in copperplate script, with the place and date 'Colombo 1st January 1881' below, followed by signature lines for the Manager and Accountant. |
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| Obverse lettering | COLOMBO THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER Promise to pay the Bearer on demand at their Office here TEN RUPEES Value received Colombo 1st January 1881 By Order of the Court of Directors CEYLON 10 TEN |
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| Comments |
The Oriental Bank Corporation was a major British overseas bank that collapsed spectacularly in May 1884 — one of the most significant bank failures in the nineteenth-century Eastern trade world. The Colombo branch had been issuing notes well into the period of the bank's deteriorating position in Indian and Ceylon markets, making any late-dated example from this series a document of that impending crisis rather than routine commercial activity.
Given the bank's abrupt closure, large quantities of outstanding notes were never redeemed in the ordinary way. Survivors are relatively scarce, and most known examples carry heavy circulation wear accumulated before the failure cut redemption short.