Ceylon - 1850 - Pounds
Perkins' Archive

Virginia Hewitt of British Museum in article says

A major change in the design of the Treasury notes was introduced in 1850. The new notes were printed by Perkins Bacon & Petch, a London engraving and printing firm started by an American, Jacob Perkins, who came to Britain in 1819 hoping to get a contract printing Bank of England notes. He failed in that ambition, but did establish one of Britain's foremost security printing firms, producing notes for many local British banks and for countries overseas. Records relating to the production of notes for Ceylon are contained in surviving records of the firm. ⁸

In November 1849 Perkins Bacon & Petch wrote to the Agent for the Colonies (then George Baillie) with regard to Ceylon, quoting prices for watermark moulds, 'the best Bank Note Paper', preparing printing plates, and printing the notes. They must have had a favourable reply, because later in the same month they wrote again, sending drawings of the one pound, two pound and five pound notes for approval. They went on to say:

We note your remarks as to the importance of a distinctive character in each of the denominations, and have endeavoured by means of elaborate and combined Engine work to attain that object . . . The Singhalese and Malabar Characters shall be carefully copied and engraved on each note. ⁹

The copy of the letter in the Perkins' archive does not include copies of the drawings, but many unissued examples of the notes have survived. The designs combined a handengraved vignette with a panel of microscopic lettering and borders and medallions of abstract patterns engraved by machine - the 'engine work' referred to in the letter. These complex ornamental patterns were produced by a geometric lathe and were particularly suitable for steel-engraving, because the hardness of this metal, as compared with copper, allowed accurate reproduction of very fine detail. Perkins was noted for banknote designs using this technique, in which he made pioneering developments, although other firms also made good use of the medium. The basic format for all the Ceylon Treasury notes was the same, but each denomination was distinguished by variations of shape and pattern in the machine-engraved sections and in the lettering used for the word 'CEYLON' at the top centre of each note. Despite their earnest promise, the printers had less success with the (to them) foreign languages, for the Sinhala texts contained non-existent characters and nonsensical words. ¹⁰ It is not certain, however, whether this was the fault of the engraver or of the source provided by the governor.

The same vignette was used on all denominations, and showed a helmeted Britannia with trident, shield, and lion; packages for export and a cornucopia spilling out fruit; and behind her, an elephant, palm tree and ships at sea. Once again, only the elephant and the palms are distinctive features for Ceylon; all the others - Britannia, her lion, packages, cornucopia and ships - were common elements on notes produced by this and other firms for banks in Britain and overseas. Indeed, this very vignette, without the elephant and palm, was also used in Canada on issues of the British Bank of North America. Such repetition of imagery is not unusual, for most printers had a range of 'off-the-peg' vignettes, borders and so on, which were cheaper than customised designs. Stock images were often used on sample notes sent out to advertise the printers' business, and in Britain, some banks specifically asked Perkins for these, or features they had seen on other notes. Evidently the designs submitted for Ceylon were acceptable, for the Perkins Bacon & Petch records show that they worked on the note production over the next few months - the die for the vignette, for example, was engraved on 14 December. In May 1850 they wrote to say that all the five pound and two pound notes, and twenty thousand of the one pound notes were ready, and asking how the notes were to be packed and how many they should send. ¹¹

The Government Treasury notes in Ceylon only continued for another few years, being withdrawn from circulation from 1 January 1856.

8. 8. The following quotes and references come from the Perkins archives held in the Royal Philatelic Society (RPS), London. Perkins Bacon & Petch to George Baillie, 10 and 26 November

9. 9. 1849. Draft Letter Book, February 1843 to March 1851. (RPS).

10. 10. My thanks to Osmund Bopearachchi for pointing out the errors, which gave much amusement to the Sinhala audience at the conference in Colombo. Correspondence with banks in India shows that the printers were wary of native scripts: they ask for them to be written out. preferably on an enlarged scale, refer to the extra time they will take, and imply that they impose constraints on the overall design of a note.

11. 11 Perkins Bacon & Petch to George Baillie, 13 May 1850, Draft Letter Book, February 1843 to March 1851. (RPS)