Catalog
2 Rix Dollars
| Issuer | General Treasury of Ceylon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1820-1826 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Plain cream paper note with a small oval vignette at upper left enclosing a seated classical figure. The central text, rendered in copperplate letterpress, states the promise to pay the bearer on demand two Rix Dollars in Copper Money at the exchange of forty-eight stivers per one Rix Dollar, presentable at the General Treasury. Bilingual inscriptions in Sinhala and Tamil appear along the top and left margins, with manuscript date, place name 'Colombo', serial number, and authorising signatures completing the note. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse of this early Ceylon Treasury note is plain and unprinted, consistent with the hand-issued government notes of the early nineteenth century, with no vignette, text, or decorative elements. |
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| Comments |
The General Treasury of Ceylon issued these notes under British colonial administration, during a period when the rix dollar — inherited from Dutch rule — was being phased out in favor of sterling. The British had formally taken Ceylon from the Dutch East India Company via the 1796 capture and the 1802 Treaty of Amiens, but Dutch monetary denominations persisted for decades afterward, creating a hybrid currency environment that these locally printed treasury notes reflect directly.
Printing in Colombo rather than London was unusual for colonial issues of this period and almost certainly accounts for the crude typography reported across the series. The rix dollar was officially demonetized in 1828, making the 1820–1826 window for this note extremely narrow.