Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Rupees
| Issuer | Government of Ceylon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919-1929 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Gray on violet and yellow-green underprint with elaborate guilloche work framing the note. The denomination FIFTY RUPEES is printed in large bold letters at center, flanked by numeral 50 roundels at left and right, with the promise-to-pay text in ornate script above; the date Colombo, 1st July 1929 appears in script at lower center. Inscription in Sinhala and Tamil scripts runs across the middle register, with the issuing authority panel at lower left and two manuscript signatures alongside the Commissioners of Currency title at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green, the reverse centers on a finely engraved vignette of a Ceylon elephant standing beneath tall palm trees within a dotted oval frame. The vignette is enclosed by an ornate cartouche of scrollwork, floral rosettes, and foliate guilloche panels extending to all four corners, with no additional lettering. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Ceylon's Government Currency Notes — as opposed to Central Bank issues, which came later — were administered directly by the colonial Treasury throughout this period. The 50 Rupee denomination was the highest value in the Government of Ceylon series, meaning these circulated primarily in commercial and interbank contexts rather than retail trade. Survival rates are poor; high-value colonial notes of this era were routinely redeemed and pulped rather than hoarded.
De La Rue's involvement was standard for British colonial currency of the period, though the Government of Ceylon relationship with TDLR predated this series by several decades.