Government of Ceylon : 1941 - 1949
George VI Pictorial - Re. 1.

King George VI Pictorial One Rupee currency note issued with dates September 1941 to 1949 by the Board of Commissioners of Currency during WWII Type has 9 dates with 4 Signature pairs and legend This note is Legal Tender ... As they were also issued in booklets all Dates have two varieties left edge perforated or straight.
1949_kgvi_r1_front 1949_kgvi_r1_back
LK:SCWPM #034
The Notes are 114 by 64 mm i.e. 4½ by 2½ inches and with a ¼ inch perforated counterfoil the booklets are 4¾ inches wide.
Printed by lithography process in India Government Security Press.
Water-mark: Ratnapura Raised Lion with whip on paper manufactured by Messrs Portals Ltd.

Front : Olive on Lilac and blue underprint. Portrait of King George VI on the left, a water-mark panel on the right, and the value in words ONE RUPEE in single lines in center and in figures 1 slanted on the top two corners. GOVERNMENT of CEYLON in an arc above THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR PAYMENT OF ANY AMOUNT in an arc and two lines. The date appears above the two facsimile signatures with COMMISSIONERS OF CURRENCY below. The centered Serial number below. Lower the value රුපියලයි in Sinhala on left, and ஒரு ரூபாய் in Thamil on right.
Back : Olive on a Blue, Orange, Lilac tint underprint with Micro printing text THE GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON. Pictorial at center with caption ELEPHANT'S HEAD with a Mahoot riding, Coconut Palm behind and foliage in background. Centered on top THE GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON in an arc. The value in figures 1 slanted on the four corners. Lower the value රුපියලයි in Sinhala on left, and ஒரு ரூபாய் in Thamil on right.

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

H.J. Huxham

C.H. Collins
20TH DECEMBER 1941 A/11 132001 4000
A/15 132001 4090 163.6K
19TH SEPTEMBER 1942 A/19 222001 12000
A/31 222001 3528 141.12K
A/34 750001 138
4TH AUGUST 1943 A/34 888001 6057
A/40 945001 2000 80K
A/42 945001 500
12TH JULY 1944 A/42 995001 2500 100K
A/45 495001 7295

O.E. Goonetilleke

C.H. Collins
24TH JUNE 1945 A/52 790001 4000 160K
A/56 790001 6474

O.E. Goonetilleke

C.E. Jones
7TH MAY 1946 A/63 264001 3000 120K
A/66 264001 5084
1ST MARCH 1947 A/71 348001 3000 120K
A/74 348001 7195

C.E. Jones

T.D. Perera
1ST JUNE 1948 A/81 543001 3000 120K
A/84 543001 7000
1ST MARCH 1949 A/91 543001 >3550 >142K
A/9? ???001 >3658
B/l 000001 3543
B/4 543001 2945 117.8K
B/? ???001 >3687

Booklets issued with 25 Notes each with single staple on left on 1/4 inch (6 mm) perforated counterfoil with baige soft board covers on front and back. Printed on front cover GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON underlined with 25 CURRENCY NOTES OF Re. 1. in 3 lines below.

The notes were demonetized with all notes with denominations Rs 10 and lower dated before 1950 December 31st on 1955 August 26th and ceased to be legal tender with effect 1956 August 31st.

Please Help refine knowledge on Prefix+Serial and perferated edge in Ceylon bankNotes of 1948 and 1949. Thanks.

Notes have appered in numismatic market with no red color in front, and claimed to be a color variation. However, I have 3 Unc notes from the same booklet including the counterfoil. The Note which was the last note of the booklet has hardly any red color seen on two from middle of booklet. They clearly prove this effect to be color fading.

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.

The Unc note was scanned at 300 dpi and displayed at 50 dpi.