Government of Ceylon : 1941 - 1944
George VI Pictorial - Rs 1000

King George VI Pictorial One Thousand Rupees BankNote issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency during WWII. Type has 2 dates in 1941 and 1944, with same Signature pair.
1941_kgvi_r1000_front 1941_kgvi_r1000_back
LK:SCWPM #039
The Notes are 191 by 140 mm i.e. 7 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches.
Printed by lithography process in India Government Security Press.
Water-mark: Ratnapura Raised Lion with whip on paper manufactured by Messrs Portals Ltd.

Front : Violet on Light blue and Green underprint. Portrait of King George VI on the left, a water-mark panel on the right, and the value in words ONE THOUSAND RUPEES in 3 lines in center and in figures 1000 on the top two corners. GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON in an arc above THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR PAYMENT OF ANY AMOUNT in a arc and one lines. The date appears above the two facsimile signatures of H.J. Huxham & C.H. Collins COMMISSIONERS OF CURRENCY. The value රුපියල් දාහයි in Sinhala on upper left, and ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் in Thamil on lower right. The Serial number on the lower left hand side and upper right hand side.
Back : Green on a Red and Brown tint underprint with Micro printing text THE GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON. Pictorial at center with caption COASTAL SCENE with a fishing catermaran in sea close to beach foliage foreground and coconut palms in background. The value in figures 1000 on upper two corners on either side of GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON in an arc. Lower the value රුපියල් දාහයි in Sinhala on left, and ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் in Thamil on right.

Signatures of Commissioners of CurrencyDate on BankNoteFirst Serial #Mintage
in K

H.J. Huxham
C.H. Collins
1ST SEPTEMBER 1941 M/1 00001 57
12TH JULY 1944 M/1 57001 51

The notes were demonetized on 1945 November 15th with all other Rs1000 and Rs500 notes previously issued and ceased to be legal tender after 1946 January 31st. Only 12 pieces of Rs1000 notes remain unsurrended to issuing Authority from the 318,000 printed with 10 known dates from 1899-1944. Two of them are listed in the PMG Population report

A Rs1000 Banknote with the word SPECIMEN replaced by the specimen logo of Currency Note Press (CNP) a division of the India Security Press, Nasik, and dated 1ST FEBRUARY 1941 and the older legality PROMISE TO PAY BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF in an three lines, was published by CBSL in 2001 in the book History of Coins and Currency in Sri Lanka by G. P. S. H. de Silva. Fig 178 P.128 bottom, and sice 2013 displayed at the CBSL Economic History Museum. This faded Note was photographed through reflective glass in 2024 August and shown on right. It has actual Signatures of the commissioners of currency.

The details of this issue are from Sri Lanka Currency of Recent Times 1938-1985 T. M. U. Sallay, 1986 Colombo:Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

On right is a photograph of a Coastal Scene on a Post Card, till I locate the Photograph used by Artist for the line drawing on the Rs 1000 KGVI pictorial note.

A issued King GVI Rs1000 is unknown in any condition.

The Unc Specimen note waa scanned at 300 dpi and displayed at 50 dpi. I thank Mr Tuan Sallay for it.