1979 - Sri Lanka - Flora and Fauna
20 Rupee note
The Central Bank of Ceylon
(CBSL) issued,
for circulation, in 1979 a series of currency Notes
based on the paintings by Laki
Senanayake on the theme Endemic Flora and Fauna of Sri Lanka dated
1979-03-26 and issued into circulation in 1980 August 4th.
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Click on image to see Note Security under Ultra-Violet illumination
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| Flora and Fauna on both front and back are identified
by Scientific names printed next to it in English italic font.
| | Predominant Color |
:Front - grey-pink with grey-blue, grey-green and grey-brown.
:Back - grey-pink with grey-blue, blue. olive, red and. brown.
| | Size | : 137 x 70 mm
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Front: Landscape
Numeric 20 at all four corners.
At top left of center the value
රුපියල් විස්සයි in Sinhala.
இருபது ரூபாய் in Thamil,
and TWENTY RUPEES in English,
in arcs above and below Numeric 20 on upper left.
Vertical on lower left in Sinhala,
ශ්රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව,
with smaller Legality Legend in 3 lines
ශ්රී ලංකාණ්ඩුව වෙනුවෙන් නිකුත් කරන ලද මේ
මුදල් නෝට්ටුව ශ්රී ලංකාව ඇතුළත ඕනෑම මුදල් ගණනක්
ගෙවිම සඳහා නිතියෙන් වලංගුය
Two Facsimile signatures above මුදල් ඈමති, and
next මහ බැංකුවේ අධිපති.
Date 1979-03-26
இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி in Thamil and
CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON in English.
Horizontal Serial number on bottom left and upper right.
At top right is a purple-faced langur (Pithecus vetulus monticola)
and at the centre is a bird, the wood pigeon (Columba torringtoni),
atop a 'Batapath-damba' tree (Syzygium rotundifolium),
set off a scenic background.
Back: Portrait
Numeric 20 at upper left.
ශ්රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව
in Sinhala,
இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி in Thamil
and CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON in English,
in 3 lines of decreasing font size, justified on upper right.
රුපියල් විස්සයි in Sinhala,
இருபது ரூபாய் in Thamil,
and TWENTY RUPEES in English,
in 3 lines of decreasing font size justified on lower right.
At centre is a rare native tree fern (Cythea sinuata),
above which appears a bird, the Ceylon blue magpie (Kitta ornata).
At bottom left appears a rhino-horned lizard (Ceratophora stoddarti)
and at right a Common Rough-sided snake 'dalawa medilla' (Aspidura trachyprocta),
all featured against a scenic background.
Watermark: Lion standing on hind legs facing left with bent
whip in right paw, Lion Lighter with outline including whip darker
than paper.
Security Thin polyester thread of 1 mm width embedded in note.
Micro-printing background a grid vertical lines distorted by non-uniform pattern.
UV Printing: Front: Signature, Date and Serial Numbers, and
lower left Numeric Value in Green. Outlines of Flag Lion with Sword in
raised right paw; Three small on left, two larger on right, in Orange.
Back: Wings and head of Bird and parts of semi circular Shell pattern
in center upper both left and right in Greenish Yellow.
Latent image: In middle of the foliage lower center, the
Numeric value 20 written italic with horizontal lines on
vertical line background, as seen on this 1200 dpi scan on right.
| Denom. | Date on
BankNote | Finance Minister | CBSL Governor | First Serial # | Mintage
in K
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| Rs.20 | 1979-03-26 | Ronnie de Mel | Warnasena Rasaputram | K/1 000001 | 25,000
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This Note displays Endemic Sri Lanka Flora and Fauna from the central highlands.
The 3 in Front and the 4 in Back are found in Mountain altitudes.
On right a Poster with Real Photographs identifying the Flora and Fauna on the note.
Designed by Iresha Herath.
Posted with Permission.
Text edited from book Sri Lanka Currency of Recent Times 1938 - 1985
by Mr. T M U Sallay 1986 CBSL Colombo.
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The note was scanned at 300 dpi and displayed at 50 dpi.