5 Rupees Central Bank of Ceylon

The 1979 date on this note sits awkwardly against the Bradbury, Wilkinson printing date of 30 April 1945 — a gap explained by Ceylon's practice of holding substantial stocks of pre-printed notes and issuing them years after production, a habit inherited from colonial-era currency management. Bradbury, Wilkinson printed for numerous British colonial and Commonwealth territories out of their New Malden works, and Ceylon was a long-standing client.

Ronnie de Mel served as Minister of Finance under J.R. Jayewardene's UNP government, making his signature here a marker of the post-1977 liberalization period. Warnasena Rasaputram was Governor of the Central Bank at the time.