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5 Rupees Oriental Bank Corporation
| Issuer | Oriental Bank Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883-1884 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on red underprint; allegorical enthroned woman flanked by lions at left, bust of Mercury with caduceus at right, and British royal coat of arms at upper centre. Text panel carries the promise to pay in English, Sinhala, and Tamil scripts. Imprint of Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. engravers, London, appears at lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 GALLE THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER රුපියල් පහයි ஐந்து ரூபாய் Promise to pay the Bearer on demand at their Office here FIVE RUPEES value received. COLOMBO 1st December 1883. By Order of the Court of Directors ENTD. ACCOUNTT. MANAGER. CEYLON BRADBURY WILLKINSON & CO ENGRAVERS LONDON (Translation: Five rupees.) |
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| Comments |
The Oriental Bank Corporation collapsed in May 1884 — one of the most spectacular banking failures in Victorian colonial finance — which makes notes from this 1883–84 series genuinely terminal issues. The bank had overextended itself through bad agricultural loans in Ceylon and Mauritius, and when the crash came, redemption was chaotic. Notes presented late or in distant branches were frequently dishonored.
Bradbury Wilkinson had printed for the OBC across multiple colonial territories, and the same plate architecture appears across the bank's Mauritius, Ceylon, and Indian issues from this period. Distinguishing them requires careful attention to the place-of-payment text, not the engraving style.