Catalog
5 Rupees Oriental Bank Corporation
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881-1883 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Blue and red bicolour print; two facing female portrait vignettes at left and right within intricate guilloche lathe-work border, with central panel of overlapping ornamental medallions bearing denomination numerals and "FIVE" inscriptions. Sinhala and Tamil denomination legends occupy the central field. |
| Reverse lettering | 5 FIVE රුපියල් පහයි ஐந்து ரூபாய் (Translation: Five rupees.) |
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| Comments |
The Oriental Bank Corporation collapsed in May 1884, making notes from the 1881–1883 series among the final issues before one of the most spectacular banking failures in British colonial history. The bank had operated across India, Ceylon, China, and the Pacific for decades, but a combination of bad agricultural loans in Ceylon and a collapse in coffee prices brought it down. London creditors were paid out; depositors in the colonies fared considerably worse.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the series in London. Notes that survived the liquidation largely did so because they were never presented for payment — which also means surviving examples were never honored.