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50 Rupees
| Issuer | Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London & China, Kandy |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Rupees |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Green-printed note with the heading CEYLON BRANCH at top, flanked by Sinhala and Tamil script inscriptions; the Royal Arms vignette, incorporating the legend INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER, is centrally placed at the top. Four ornate lathe-work rosettes occupy the upper corners, with the numeral 50 and RUPEES below each pair. A large intaglio FIFTY overprint in red-brown dominates the centre of the note, superimposed over the promise text, with FIFTY RUPEES in a second line beneath; the date KANDY 1st July 1870 and issuer name THE CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA, LONDON & CHINA appear in letterpress below the vignette. The word SPECIMEN is printed in the lower central area, and Sinhala and Tamil script border inscriptions run along the bottom. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | CHARTERED MERCANTILE OF INDIA, LONDON & CHINA CEYLON BRANCH 50 50 |
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| Comments |
The Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China was among the earliest foreign exchange banks operating in Ceylon, and its Kandy branch was a relatively minor outpost compared to the Colombo operation. Notes issued specifically for Kandy are considerably scarcer than those from the principal branch, reflecting lower issue volumes rather than any unusual redemption event.
Pick 129C places this within a small family of private bank issues that predate the colonial government's eventual consolidation of note-issuing authority in Ceylon. By the 1870s, the Chartered Mercantile Bank was already facing competitive pressure from the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, and would be fully absorbed into that institution by 1893.