Catalog
5 Rix Dollars
| Issuer | Government of Ceylon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1809 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Uniface note dated 1.1.1809 or x.2.1809. Vignette at upper left shows Britannia seated, holding a trident and resting against a shield. Text body carries the denomination and issuing authority in letterpress. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Uniface; reverse is blank. |
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Ceylon's rix dollar was a legacy currency inherited from the Dutch VOC administration — the British, who took formal control of the island in 1796, continued issuing it rather than immediately imposing sterling, partly to avoid disrupting trade and partly because the local population had no interest in adapting to an unfamiliar unit. By 1809 the Government was still printing rix dollar notes, but the denomination's days were already numbered; sterling displaced it entirely by 1828.
Pick 8 is among the rarest survivors of this transitional series. Most were redeemed during the currency conversion and pulped.