Catalog
1000 Rupees Oriental Bank Corporation
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1861 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress on pale guilloche-bordered note. British royal arms with lion and unicorn supporters occupy the top centre, flanked by two oval vignettes each bearing the denomination "1000 RUPEES" in bold. Denomination and bank name appear in large display type across the centre field, with the promise-to-pay text rendered in copperplate script below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | රුපියල්දාහයි ஆயிரம்ரூபாய் ONE THOUSAND 1000 RUPEES Incorporated by Royal Charter. COLOMBO, CEYLON THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION Promise to pay the Bearer on demand at their Office here, ONE THOUSAND RUPEES or the equivalent in the Currency of this Island. Value received. By order of the Court of Directors, Entd. Accountt. Manager (Translation: One thousand rupees.) |
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The Oriental Bank Corporation was chartered in Bombay in 1842 and grew into one of the dominant exchange banks of the British colonial world, with branches spanning India, Ceylon, China, and Australia. By 1861 it held a note-issuing privilege in several territories, though this was always a contested right — the colonial banking landscape was periodically disrupted by legislative pressure to centralize currency under government control. The bank ultimately failed spectacularly in 1884, one of the largest banking collapses in nineteenth-century Asia, rendering its surviving notes relics of a very short commercial window.
Perkins, Bacon & Petch were the engravers of choice for high-security colonial instruments throughout this period, their intaglio work difficult to counterfeit by local means.