1979 - Sri Lanka - Flora and Fauna
5 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.
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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 - purple-grey with ochre rainbow tint
:Back - Purple-grey with brown, green and black.
| | Size | : 118 x 64 mm
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Front: Landscape
Numeric 5 at all four corners.
At top left of center the value
රුපියල් පහයි in Sinhala.
ஐந்து ரூபாய் in Thamil,
and FIVE RUPEES in English, in arcs above and below Numeric 5 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.
இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி in Thamil and
CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON in English.
Upper left of center Horizontal Date 1978-03-26
Horizontal Serial number on bottom left of center and upper right.
At right is a nymphalid camouflaged butterfly, the Ceylon blue oakleaf
(Kallima philarchus philarchus)
and below the Blotch Bow-finger gecko (Gymnodactylus yakhuna zonatus)
featured against a scrub jungle background.
Back: Portrait
Numeric 5 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 පහයි in Sinhala,
ஐந்து ரூபாய் in Thamil,
and FIVE RUPEES in English,
in 3 lines of decreasing font size justified on lower right.
The right hand side shows a Ceylon Breadfruit tree (Artocarpus nobilis)
known as Hingala Dhel,
with an almost extinct Travancore flying squirrel (Pteromys layardi) taking off at the top
and a white faced starling (Sturnus senex)
which technically should be Sturnornis albofrontatus at bottom.
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; In middle, Small
one left top and two on right, larger one on left two on right, in Orange.
Back: Flying squirell and parts of semi circular Shell pattern
in center upper both left and right in Greenish Yellow.
Latent image: None according to CBSL only denominations from 10 Rupees and above.
(SH+WMKW 2021 page 98).
| Denom. | Date on
BankNote | Finance Minister | CBSL Governor | First Serial # | Mintage
in K
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| Rs.5 | 1979-03-26 | Ronnie de Mel | Warnasena Rasaputram | F/1 000001 | 30,000
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| Minister of Finance |
Governor
Central Bank of Ceylon |
1979-03-26
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| Ronnie de Mel | Warnasena Rasaputram |
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This Note displays Endemic Sri Lanka Flora and Fauna from the Low altitudes.
The 2 in Front from Dry Zone, and the 3 in Back from Wet Zone.
The Bank of Rs 5 note represents the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, one of
the UNESCO World Heritage sites listed in Sri Lanka.
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.