Large Uniface
1864-1866 Colombo £1, £5, £10
notes;
Kandy 10s, £1, £5, £10
notes
Printed on Both Sides
1864-1866 Colombo 10s note
£1 note
Kandy 10s note
Note that the value in vernacular Sinhala and Thamil is also given in Rupees, as the Indian Rupee was the familiar currency in circulation. One Pound Sterling equaled to Ten Rupees.
The name of the Bank in both Sinhala යෙසියතික්බන්කිඬ්කොර්පොරේෂන්, and Thamil யெசியதிக்.பெங்கிங்கொர்ப்பொறேஷன் (Yeciyatik.Peṅkiṅkorppoṟēṣaṉ), appear Transliterated with no spaces in all the notes issued by The Asiatic Banking Corporation.
|
ASIATIC
BANKING CORPORATION |
Size : SACPM(1981) gives ±2 mm different sizes for each
of the Notes. This is because the Notes were probably cut by hand
using a guillotine resulting in slight random differences.
The outer limits of the printed design is a better measure of size, as
that is fixed.
This was measured on a circulated £1 note at the Colombo
National Museum as 7½x4½ inches or about 190x114 mm.
The margins were estimated to be on average ¼ inch or about
6.35mm which gives a total size of note of 8x5; inches
or about 203x127 mm .
The squarish 10 Shilling Notes has outer limits of the printed design
4⅞x4 inches or about 124x102mm. The margins add
about ⅝ inch giving a total size for note of
5½x4⅝ inches or about 140x118 mm
During the Civil War in the United States of America between the North and the South, British merchants were unable to trade in American cotton, a raw material largely produced by southern US plantations and greatly in demand by British textile mills. As a result cotton planting boomed in India and many banks sprung up after 1860. With the end of the war in 1865 April, cotton could again be exported from the south, and the boom in India abruptly ended.
Banknotes were prepared by Smith Elder & Co in London for issue at all of these branches though thus far only notes for Ceylon and for Hong Kong have actually been verified as being actually issued.
The British printer, Bradbury Wilkinson & Co, had in its archive, two complete sets of the banknotes printed for each branch of which one set was released to the numismatic collector market after 1985, before it was acquired by Thomas De La Rue in 1986.
Images mostly from Spink Auctions, particularly in 2011 April of 19th Century Ceylon Notes. It listed Signed and Remainders of the Asiatic Banking Corporation, notes from Colombo and Kandy, Ceylon. On the day of this Auction, the anonymous owner of collection cancelled it.
Text from Auction catalog
Auction Images at about 67 dpi displayed at 50 dpi.