ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව
Ceylon Specimens
Armorial Ensign - 1956-1963

Currency Notes issued between 1956 and 1959 by the Central Bank of Ceylon with the Ceylon Armorial Ensign. The Official Language Act No. 33 of 1956, replaced English with Sinhala. The English text on Ceylon currency Notes was interchanged with the Sinhala, and the Queen was replaced with the Coat of Arms Ceylon. Note that the Armorial Ensign of Ceylon has the name of the nation in Sinhala as "ලංකා" excluding the "ශ්‍රී" (Sri) as was the name of the island in the ancient Ramayana. The Sinhala name Central Bank of Sri Lanka, was adopted in English only in 1986.

images/1956-10-24_aec_100r_hcf.jpg images/1956-10-24_aec_100r_hcb.jpg Dark Brown 171x98 mmRs100 notes.
Click on Rs100 images to see
Perfin CANCELLED with Prefix Serial range.
images/1958-11-07_aec_50r_hsf.jpg images/1958-11-07_aec_50r_hsb.jpg Blue 159x89 mmRs50 notes.
Click on Rs50 images to see
Perfin SPECIMEN with Prefix Serial range.
Green 146x79 mmRs10 notes.
Red 133x73 mmRs5 notes.
Brown 121x67 mmRs2 notes.
Blue 108x60 mmRs1 notes.

Large SPECIMEN horizontal over legality statement on front.

Start prefix with 00000 Serial as in issued currency note. A double punch holes in the middle space used for the signatures. Note that the holes are spaced vertical or horizontal based on the position of signatures, but have sometimes missed the target. No specimen control number.

Specimens with Prefix Serial range found online of Rs100 and Rs50,notes Prefix Serial on lower left is First and upper right is Last of print order. Outline of inscription Horizontally Punched with tiny holes (Perfin). The Rs100 has at bottom center and the Rs50 has over the signatures. No red SPECIMEN stamp or large punch holes.

The specimen note images at 162+ dpi from online Archives are displayed above at 25 dpi.


See other Specimen S-Notes in notes.lakdiva.org.lk a website for
Banknotes of Ceylon and Sri Lanka since 1785. 1956-07-30_aec_5r_sb.jpg 994x536 190x190 156356B 80 1956-07-30_aec_5r_sf.jpg 988x534 189x189 151586B 80