Catalog
10 Shillings
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation, Colombo |
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| Year | 1846-1850 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Engraved in early Victorian intaglio style, the obverse centres on the Royal Arms vignette flanked by a rampant unicorn to the left and a lion to the right, with oval guilloche panels bearing the denomination '10 SHILLINGS' at upper left and upper right. The body of the note carries letterpress text reading 'THE ORIENTAL BANK, Promises to pay the Bearer on demand, at the Office of its Branch here, in the Currency of the Island, TEN SHILLINGS, Value received,' with the imprint 'BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, BATHO & BINGLEY, 16 Lombard Street, London.' The word SPECIMEN is overprinted across the lower panel, confirming the trial status of the piece. |
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| Obverse lettering | CEYLON BRANCH 10 SHILLINGS No. COLOMBO THE ORIENTAL BANK Promises to pay the Bearer on demand, at the Office of its Branch here, in the Currency of the Island TEN SHILLINGS, Value received BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS BATHO & BINGLEY, 16 Lombard Street, London End. Acct. MANAGER SPECIMEN |
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The Oriental Bank Corporation — originally chartered in Bombay in 1842 as the Bank of Western India before rebranding — was one of the first joint-stock banks operating across British colonial Asia. Its Colombo branch served Ceylon's plantation economy at exactly the moment sugar and coffee exports were reshaping the island's commercial life. Notes issued by private colonial banks of this period carried no government guarantee; their value rested entirely on the bank's own reserves and reputation.
Leighton & London was a minor London trade printer, not a specialist security firm, which is worth noting — the engraving quality on Oriental Bank Corporation colonial issues varies considerably across the series. P#147D is among the rarer surviving branch-designated examples from this issuer.