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5 Rupees Jaffna; Oriental Bank Corporation
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1864 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | රුපියල් පහයි ஐந்து ரூபாய் FIVE RUPEES INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER JAFFNA, CEYLON 15th, Feby 1864. THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION Promise to pay the Bearer on demand at their Branch here, or at their Bank in Colombo FIVE RUPEES or the equivalent in the Currency of this Island. Value received. By order of the Court of Directors, Entd. Accountt. Agent. Perkins, Bacon & Co, London. Patent Hardened Steel Plate. |
| Reverse description | Black print on plain white paper. A central guilloche pattern occupies the majority of the reverse field, printed by letterpress. The printer's imprint appears at the base. |
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| Comments |
The Oriental Bank Corporation was a British overseas bank chartered in 1851, operating across India, Ceylon, and the Far East. Its Jaffna branch — serving the Tamil-majority northern peninsula of Ceylon — was one of several regional offices empowered to issue notes locally, which accounts for the place-name designation rather than a Colombo imprint. The bank collapsed in 1884 following bad debt accumulation across its Asian operations, ending all note issues at that point.
Perkins, Bacon's engraved security printing was the dominant choice for colonial banking issues of this period, and their work on this series is among the finer surviving examples of mid-Victorian private bank production from Ceylon.