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1000 Rupees Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China
| Issuer | Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1000 Rupees |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on white paper with a large green guilloche underprint reading 'ONE THOUSAND' across the centre. The British Royal Arms vignette is at top centre, flanked by two oval panels each bearing '1000 RUPEES'. Denomination inscriptions in Sinhala and Tamil appear along the top and bottom margins. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CEYLON BRANCH රුපියල් දාහයි ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் 1000 RUPEES INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER COLOMBO, 1st Jany. 1870 THE CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA, LONDON & CHINA Promises to pay the Bearer on demand here ONE THOUSAND RUPEES, value received. By order of the Court of Directors, Entd. ACCOUNTT. MANAGER SPECIMEN PERKINS, BACON & Co, LONDON. (Translation: One thousand rupees.) |
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| Comments |
The Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China obtained its royal charter in 1857, stepping into a space already contested by the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China and the Bank of Bengal. By 1870 it was operating across a string of Eastern ports, and high-denomination notes like this 1000 Rupee issue were instruments of trade finance rather than retail currency — moving between merchants, agency houses, and the bank's own branches.
Perkins, Bacon & Co. were the obvious choice for colonial bank printing at this period, their intaglio work considered difficult to counterfeit in markets where forgery was a persistent operational concern. The bank was absorbed into the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1892.