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5 Pounds

Issuer Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London & China, Colombo
Year 1864-1869
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Value 5 Pounds
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Obverse description Green and brown bicolour note with the heading CEYLON BRANCH. at top centre, flanked by the denomination FIVE in green on both sides within guilloche rosettes. Inscriptions in Sinhalese and Tamil appear above the denominational panels. The centre carries the bank's full title THE CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA, LONDON & CHINA beneath a Royal Arms vignette with the legend INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER, and a large brown intaglio FIVE POUNDS numeral overprint across the promise text, with KANDY and a partial date 18__ above the text. A bold red SPECIMEN overprint is applied diagonally across the lower centre, with Ent'd, ACCOUNT, and MANAGER designations at the foot.
Obverse lettering CEYLON BRANCH.
FIVE
FIVE
INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER
KANDY
THE CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA, LONDON & CHINA
Promise to pay the Bearer on demand
at do... the sum of... currency
of the Island of Ceylon, value received.
By order of the Court of Directors
Ent'd
ACCOUNT
MANAGER
FIVE POUNDS
SPECIMEN
Reverse description Plain green back with a large central oval guilloche panel enclosing the numeral 5, flanked on each side by smaller circular guilloche rosettes also bearing the numeral 5, all executed in fine lathe-work engraving. The overall design is uncluttered, relying entirely on the intricate engine-turned geometric patterns for visual effect. Faint mirror-image text from the obverse is visible through the paper along the top edge.
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