Central Bank changes themes and designs of currency notes
Saturday, 8 March 2014 00:00
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By D.C. Ranatunga
Even after the Central Bank was established in August 1950, Sri Lanka continued to use coins and banknotes issued by the British.
On 20 January 1951 the first series of banknotes was issued by the Central Bank. The one rupee (in blue) and ten rupee (in green) notes were the first to be released. These carried the picture of King George VI, the monarch of Great Britain and head of the Commonwealth.
The back of the notes had pictures of the famous moonstone and steps (one rupee note) and the guard stone (10 rupee note) – both in Anuradhapura. The signatures of Finance Minister J.R. Jayewardene and Central Bank Governor John Exter appeared on the notes.
The picture of the British king was used because even after Independence, a representative of the British Crown continued as Governor General. Though there was a plan to issue six notes, the death of the King in 1952 resulted in suspending the plan after the release of two.
All six were issued in 1952 with the picture of Queen Elizabeth II who succeeded her father. Just like the first two notes, the others also carried well known cultural pictures including Medirigiriya (Rs. 2), King Parakramabahu statue (Rs. 5), moonstone (Rs. 50) and Sigiriya frescoes (Rs. 100). All the notes carried the lion symbol as the security feature.
It is significant that the first coins issued by the Central Bank were commemorative ones. Two coins minted at the Royal Mint in England were released in 1957 in the denominations of one rupee and five rupees. These were released to mark the Buddha Jayanthi – the 2500th year of the passing -away of the Buddha.
However, it was only in 1963 that the Central Bank introduced the first series of coins. The series comprised seven coins ranging from one cent to a rupee. These were also the first coins to be issued after Independence (1948). The State Emblem was used on the face of the notes with the word ‘Lanka’.
The third series of notes issued in 1956 had the State symbol printed on the front. With the change of government in 1956, the Finance Minister in the S W R D Bandaranaike government was Stanley de Soysa who, along with the Governor of the Central Bank, Arthur J. Ranasinghe signed the currency notes. Both signatures were in Sinhala in contrast to the earlier signatures which were in English.
The change of the language policy with the new government declaring Sinhala as the official language was visible in that the words ‘Central Bank of Ceylon’ was changed to ‘Sri Lanka Maha Bankuva’ and the statement of the legality of the currency which was in English was now used in Sinhala.
The image of Prime Minister Bandaranaike, who was assassinated in September 1959, was used in the fourth series of notes released in 1962. While the earlier pictures continued to be used in most notes, two were changed. These were the Rs. 50 note and the Rs. 100 note. Some Rs. 50 notes had the statue of Viharamahadevi and a Nuga tree while some had a tea estate in the backdrop of Sripada. The Rs. 100 note had a drummer and three Kandyan dancers.
In 1965 the Prime Minister’s image was replaced by King Parakramabahu in the face of the note. This change too happened with the change of government when the United National Party (UNP) came to power with Dudley Senanayake as Prime Minister. The signatures changed to U.B. Wanninayake (Finance Minister) and William Tennekoon (Governor – Central Bank). The signatures and other legends continued to be in Sinhala.
For the first time in Sri Lanka, in August 1955 notes of Rs. 10 value and less issued prior to 31 December 1950 with signatures of the Currency Board Commissioners were demonetised. By the 1965 note series, all previous banknotes were restored.
Effective on 3 November 1970, all 50 and 100 rupee notes issued on or before 26 October 1970 were demonetised.
Another change in the main image was seen when Parakramabahu’s picture was replaced with former Prime Minister Bandaranaike’s picture once again. This too happened with the change of government in 1970 when the SLFP/LSSP and CP formed a Coalition Government.
The Republic of Sri Lanka was born on 22 May 1972 and the next series (sixth) of notes saw the new State Emblem being used where the Dharmachakra replaced the crown top.
A drastic change was seen in the seventh series in 1979 when fauna and flora depicting the diverse wildlife of Sri Lanka were introduced to the currency notes.
Pre-historic and archaeological themes formed the theme of the 1980 series. It also saw the 500 and 1000 rupees notes being added.
