Central Bank of Ceylon
King ParakramaBahu
1973-8-21 Rs 2
Bradbury Wilkinnson
Error E/26X XX3753

This rare 1973-8-21 Rs 2 banknote, issued by the Central Bank of Ceylon and printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Ltd., contains a notable printing error. This error involves the absence of the front intaglio print on the note, resulting in a unique and highly collectible item.

The error occurred during the manual quality control process, where stacks of 10,000 sheets were inspected for misprints before being loaded for serial number printing. Each sheet typically contains NN=40? notes, and the serial numbers are printed simultaneously on each note in the sheet. The stack is then guillotined vertically into individual notes, creating 10xNN bricks of 1,000 notes each.

In this particular case, sheet number 3753, which had a printing error (the front intaglio print was missing), was not detected and removed during the quality check. As a result, NN notes with identical last four digits number 3753 of the serial number got printed with the same error. Assuming NN=40 notes per sheet the First 2 digits of Serial Number probably range from 60 to 99.

Compare with the uncut sheet of 40 2010 Rs100 notes that were issued. As only a thousand of them were printed the last 3 digits were the same on every note in a single sheet.

images/1973-8-21_2r_E263-923753.jpg&images/1973-8-21_2r_E263-793753.jpg
Click to see the 2 other error notes with same prefix listed.
Denomination: 2 Rupees Base Color: Brown & Lilac
Under-print: Blue & Green English : Two Rupees
Sinhala :  රුපියල් දෙකයි Thamil : இரண்டு ரூபாய்
Size : 114 x 59 mm SCWPM-lk:  72b
Back Pictorial :  Circular Buddhist shrine, Medirigiriya Vatadage in medieval City of Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.

Deno. Date on Note Minister of Finance Governor CBC First Serial #Last Serial #
Rs.2 1973-8-21 N.M.Perera Herbert Tennekoon E/260 000001 E/289 1000000

The following notes are known to exist with this printing error, all bearing same last four digits 3753 of the serial number.
Denomination Serial Collection
1973-8-21 Rs 2 E/260 963753 Sanoon (Sold)
1973-8-21 Rs 2 E/262 803753 Sanoon
1973-8-21 Rs 2 E/263 793753 Sanoon
1973-8-21 Rs 2 E/263 903753 Lakdiva Collection
1973-8-21 Rs 2 E/263 923753 Ravi Ratnapala

On 2024 August 26th Ravi Ratnapala pointed out that the Prefix is not all the same, and above table has been corrected accordingly. Shouldn't it be the same if from the same faulty sheet. I am now confused and seeking an Explanation.

This Rs. 2 note was the first low-denomination currency type issued by the Central Bank of Ceylon following the adoption of the Republican Constitution on 22nd May 1972. The design prominently features the statue of Sage Pulasthi in Polonnaruwa and is similar to notes issued between 1969 and 1972, with the addition of ශ්‍රී to name of country ශ්‍රී ලංකා twice in legality statement, after adoption of Republican Constitution on 1972 May 22.

The Lakdiva error note was obtained by me in 2003 from Mr T.M.U Sallay and Ravi got his note from Mr Fred Medis.

I thank Ravi Ratnapala and Sanoon for sharing images from their collections. If anyone else has this error note, please contribute image for documentation on this page. to kavanr @ gmail.com or WhatsApp +94712537551.

Part of notes.lakdiva.org.lk a website for
Banknotes of Ceylon and Sri Lanka since 1785.