Government of Ceylon
WWII 5 cent note
Essays for June 1, 1942
June 1, 1942 emergency issue of subsidiary notes of the denomination
of cents five were issued to tide over shortage of coins.
Before this issue there was a 10 cents note design dated Januart 1,
1942 which had been corrected by hand to the Essay, where a
unused 5 cent stamp needs to be pasted.
The Notes are 86 by 57 mm i.e. 3 3/8 by 2 1/4 inches.
Printed by Ceylon Government Press.
Water-mark : None on Ordinary paper of unknown manufacture
Front : Large numeric Value 5c on all 4 corners.
Validation in 3 lines of English Text
The value of this note is five cents provided that
an unused revenue stamp of that denomination
is affixed below.
in 3 lines of Sinhala Text
පාවිච්චි නොකරපු සත පහේ ආදායම් මුද්දරයක් පහතින්
ඈලෙව්වොත් මෙ නොට්ටුවේ වටිනාකම
සත පහක් වන්නේය.
in 2 lines of Thamil Text
௨பயோகிக்கப்படாத அரசிலற வ௫மான ஐந்து சத முத்திரை கீழே ஒட்டப்-
பட்டால் இந்த நோட்டின் பெறுமதி ஐந்து சதமாகும்
Outline of a rectangle to paste single 5 cent stamp with
ශත පහ in Sinhala vertical on left, and
ஐந்து சதம் in Thamil
vertical on right.
Back : Centered English Text in 2 lines
Subject to the conditions set forth
at the back hereof.
Below on right 2 signatures H. J. Huxham & C. H. Collins
with Text Commissioners of Currency below signatures.
Dated June 1, 1942 on lower left.
I thank my neighbour Mirzah for typing the old Thamil sentence on the
front, as my eyeball OCR of the blured Thamil Text I can't read, was
unsuccessful.
Observe that
- Name of country Ceylon is only on stamp pasted.
- Only 5c stamp available was the George V stamp of 1927.
- No 5 cent stamp of George VI was ever issued. A 5 cent Postcard was only issued in 1944.
- The absence of a 5 cent stamp was probably the reason this note concept was abandoned.
- Does not have the validity statement
This note is legal tender for the payment of a sum not exceeding Five Rupees
- This Essay is the only note design of British Era to have
validity printed in English, Sinhala and Thamil.
Note American style date used only on these locally printed notes.
The front of note was scanned at 300 dpi and displayed at 50 dpi.
I thank Palinda de Silva for images of edited 10 cent Essay and
Lankan dealer Sanoon for images of the 5 cent Essay without Stamp,
from the collection of Mr T. M. U. Sallay.
