The Oriental Bank Corporation
1852-1862 - Colombo

Denomination : 50 Rupees Note Color : Gray English : Fifty Rupees Sinhala : රුපියල්පනහයි Thamil : ஐம்பதுரூபாய் Size : 191 x 123 mm Date : 2nd Jany 1854 Status : Signed, Joined
Pick-lk S144
Denomination : 100 Rupees Note Color : Unknown English : Hundred Rupees Sinhala : රුපියල්සියයයි Thamil : நூறுரூபாய் Size : 190 x 122 mm Date : __________18__ Status : Specimen
Pick-lk S146
Denomination : 1000 Rupees Note Color : Unknown English : Thousand Rupees Sinhala : රුපියල්දාහයි Thamil : ஆயிரம்ரூபாய் Size : 198 x 121 mm Date : __________18__ Status : Specimen
Pick-lk S146A

Front : A decorated rectangular wide border with no text. Within border on top Center, below arced legend INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER Crowned British Royal Coat of arms within belt with legend HONO SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE supported by crowned rampant lion on left and unicorn chained with garter on right. Lion standing left on crown. Below DIEU ET MON DROIT in scroll.
On either side alpha-numeric Denomination with unit below in decorate, with above රුපියල් Denomination in Sinhala on left and Denomination ரூபாய் in Thamil on right, with Seriel No below. Centered below COLOMBO, CEYLON Date as Day Month Year.
Within shaded rectangle
THE ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION Promises to pay Bearer on demand at the Office here DENOMINATION RUPEES or the equivalent in the Currency of the Island, Value received
Below By Order of the Court of Directors above in one line
Ent^d _____ Account^t ______ Manager
In bottom left just inside border in small script Perkins, Bacon & C^o, London. Patent Hardened Steel Plate..
Back : Spirographic design?
Watermark : ORIENTAL BANK in downward arc above CORPORATION in line below darker than paper (need to confirm)
Printed : Perkins Bacon & C^o, London.
Size : Estimated assuming size of 1875 Rs 100 circulated note which is published with (181x122 mm) size in SACPM (1981). Assumed size adopted in inches, and same height for every denomination.

Undated notes of the early 1850s Rs5 and Rs10 were printed by Perkins Bacon & Petch. Jacob Perkins died in 1849, and Henry Petch followed him in 1852. With these deaths, the trading name was changed in 1852 to Perkins Bacon & Co and remained such until limited liability was adopted in 1887. See The Perkins Bacon Story The above Rs50, Rs100 and Rs1000 proofs with no date printed by Perkins Bacon & C^o after 1853.

The Rs 50 note seems to had been torn in two, and contemporary conserved using an Adhesive Slip for Joining Banknotes made by George Bershaw & Son, London. According to Mr Fred Medis many notes of this era were split in two for postal transmission. To send Money securely by post, one half of note was posted and only when receipt was acknowledged, was the other half posted.

Text and Images from Noonan's and Spink Auction listings Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 1000.

Images estimated to be 300(Rs50), 67(Rs100) and 64(Rs1000) dpi and displayed at 50 dpi.

Please contact kavan @ gmail.com if I have made errors in encoding the Thamil in Unicode.