2010 - 2021
Sri Lanka
50 Rupee note
Development, Prosperity and Dancers

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) issued, for circulation, a new series of currency notes on the theme "Development, Prosperity and Sri Lanka Dancers" on 2011 February 4th, dated 2010-01-01.
images/2010_01_01_lkdpd_50r_uvtf.jpg images/201x_lkdpd_50r_uvb.jpg
Click image to see Note Security under UltraViolet illumination
Front: Landscape
An artist's impression of newly constructed MANAMPITIYA BRIDGE alongside the old bridge common to both road vehicles and trains. and an view of the famous old nine arch railway bridge near Ella to upper left. Illustrated are the Sri Lanka bird Dull Blue Flycatcher to the right, and the butterfly, Blue Oakleaf to the lower left.
Numeric 50 at upper left and lower right. At bottom center the value රුපියල් පනහයි in Sinhala, ஐம்பது ரூபாய் in Thamil and FIFTY RUPEES in English of decreasing font size.
ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව in Sinhala at Top center, with smaller இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி in Thamil and English CENTRAL BANK OF SRI LANKA on next line.
Legality Legend in 3 lines
ශ්‍රී ලංකාණ්ඩුව වෙනුවෙන් නිකුත් කරන ලද මේ
මුදල් නෝට්ටුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඇතුළත ඕනෑම මුදල් ගණනක්
ගෙවිම සඳහා නිතියෙන් වලංගුය
Sri Lankan Lion with sword facing left at upper right.
Facsimile signatures above මුදල් ඈමති, and the මහ බැංකුවේ අධිපති,
with date YYYY-MM-DD below.
Size of digits in serial number increase in size. Horizontal Black Serial number on upper left and vertical Red Serial number on right.
Security Thread Thin polyester thread embedded in note with the letters CBSL RS50 and Mirror of same.
Back: Portrait
A drawing of Vadiga Patuna and a Yak Bera. A guard stone with a Punkalasa is on the upper right, on a vertical Band with a stylized floral motif, Liya Vela.
A map of Sri Lanka appears in the background centered to the left.
Numeric 50 at upper left and lower right. රුපියල් පනහයි in Sinhala, ஐம்பது ரூபாய் in Thamil and FIFTY RUPEES in English, in 3 lines of decreasing font size, at lower left.
ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව in Sinhala, இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி in Thamil and CENTRAL BANK OF SRI LANKA in English, in 3 lines of decreasing font size, at center upper left.
Printer Thomas De la Rue, Sri Lanka in tiny text DE LA RUE in bottom right.
Watermark: Cornerstone plus on left same image of Flycatcher flipped to right, darker than background with vertical 50 lighter than background to the right.
UV Printing: Random small fiber on both sides.
Front: Minimal. Highlighted Green square with numeric 50 in large Font, upper right of center. Serial number in Green on left, Orange on right
Back: Limited highlight of Drummer and Dancer.
Latent image: Right of the top left numeric on front, the Numeric value 50 written italic with horizontal lines on a vertical lines background, both slightly tilted clockwise, as seen on this 1200 dpi scan on right. Image also show microprinting array of text CBSL.
Replacement Notes See details with images for series in *-Notes

Predominant Color : Blue  |  Size : 133 x 67 mm
Serial Prefix : V  |  Replacement Prefix: Z/3,Z/20
Florescent Fiber : Yellow  |  Braille : Two Dots

Front Landscape both old and New, with endemic Bird and Butterfly designed by by Artist Mr Kelum Gunasekara.
Back portrait of traditional Sri Lankan drummer and a dancer designed by Artist Sisira Liyanaarachchi.

Date on
BankNote   
Finance MinisterCBSL GovernorFirst Serial #Last Serial #Mintage
in K
Replacement
Prefix
2010-01-01Mahinda RajapaksaAjith Nivard CabraalV/1     000KV/100 1000K100,000Z/3
2010-01-01Mahinda Rajapaksa Ajith Nivard CabraalV/101 000KV/140 1000K 40,000Z/3
2015-02-04Ravi Karunanayake A. Mahendran V/141 000KV/160 1000K 20,000Z/3
2016-07-04Ravi Karunanayake I. Coomaraswamy V/161 000KV/265 1000K105,000Z/20
2017-05-22Mangala SamaraweeraI. Coomaraswamy V/266 000KV/293  499K 25,000 SNIM-10%
2019-12-24Mahinda Rajapaksa W. D. Lakshman V/293 500KV/308  591K 15,000 SNIM-7.3%
2020-08-12Mahinda Rajapaksa W. D. Lakshman V/309 592KV/326  816K 15,500 SNIM-17.6%
2021-09-15Basil Rajapaksa Ajith Nivard CabraalV/327 817KV/370  748K 40,700 SNIM-5.5%
2022-07-04Ranil Wickremesinghe Nandalal WeerasingheV/371 000KV/407  990K 35,000 SNIM-5.7%

A second order of 30 Million notes have been ordered of Rupees 50 notes has been placed with DeLaRue in 2024. (Reply to RTI 122/2024) End prefix estimated about V/440 assuming 8% damage rate.

UV cured Post Print Varnish (UVPPV) coating was applied on Rs. 50/- currency notes after 2014 from V/101 onwards and these notes are slightly thicker. (CBSL Webpage)

With or without the use of Replacement the First and Last serial is not known to the last digit as it could be a replacement or rejected. It is given to the First or last Brick (1000 or K notes)

From V/266 SNIM (Single Note Inspection Machine) was used. Error Notes removed but not replaced with Z serial Replacements. Packs have missing serial numbers.

Please Help Track Prefix+Serial when Date on Banknote change. Thanks.

Mintage of 25M notes stated in reply to RTI 0001/2020 is 2.5M (10%) less than the difference of Last - First Serial for this issue. The increase of error rate from 0.2-0.3% replacements to about 10% missing serial numbers with the adoption of SNIM by DeLaRue is explained by more stringent quality control, but mainly because, printed sheets are not quality checked before printing Serials.

The note scanned at 300 dpi and displayed above at 50 dpi

Manampitiya Bridge
The new Manampitiya Bridge, which is one of the longest bridges in Sri Lanka, is 302m in length, 10.4m wide and it is located at Manampitiya in the Polonnaruwa district. The old Manampitiya Bridge was used both as a railway and highway crossing over the Mahaweli River. The new bridge was constructed in order to overcome the traffic congestion on the old bridge.
Ancient Nine Arch Bridge
Demodara nine arch bridge is considered to be one of the most spectacular bridges in Sri Lanka. It is located at Gotuwela between Ella and Demodara railway stations. This bridge was built during the British period, entirely of solid rocks, bricks and cement without using steel.
Sri Lanka Dull-blue Flycatcher - Eumyias sordida
Sri Lanka Anu-mesimara (Sinhala)
llangai Neela Vettivatr Kuruvi (Thamil)
The Sri Lanka Dull Blue Flycatcher is an endemic resident confined mainly to the central hill country of Sri Lanka. This species is categorized as vulnerable by the IUCN. It is not a shy bird and has a sweet soft song.
The Blue Oakleaf - Kallima philarchus
Pita nil Kolaya (Sinhala)
This amazing butterfly is one of nature's wonders, has brilliant blue forewings with large black triangular area near the tip and has a little white on the midst the forewing. The underside, in contrast is dull brown with black and grey pickles, patterned and shaped completely resembling a dried up leaf. It's amazing camouflage serves it to protect itself from the predators. This large butterfly is endemic to the wet zone forests of Sri Lanka.
Punkalasa Guard stone
Guardstones (doratupala figures or muragal) are one of the finest creations of ancient Sinhalese artwork. Guard stone carved with pot of plenty is an expression of prosperity and it is associated with the belief of ushering prosperity to the building throughout the year. The best example of a guard stone with a pot of plenty is seen at the Abhayagiri archeological complex.
Liya Vela
Liya vela is a commonly used design technique in Sinhala art. It is a decorative art form using the leaves and flowers of a creeper.
Vadiga Patuna
Vadiga Patuna dance is a performances of the Low Country dance tradition. It narrates the arrival of some Brahmins from Vadige Land to relieve a queen of a serious ailment. The verse and dialogue are in Palli Sanskrit and Tamil languages.
Yak Beraya
Yak Beraya (Ruhunu Beraya, Devol Beraya or Pahatharata Beraya) is the traditional drum which accompanies Sri Lanka Low Country dances. This instrument is a long cylindrical drum and is played with both hands.

Text edited from Press Releases of the CBSL.
For collected details of the images on this Banknote see NotesCollector.