20 Sri Lankan Rupees Banknote (Moonstone)

20 Rupees Rupee (Issued 1982)

The 20 Rupees denomination formed part of a wider family of Central Bank of Ceylon notes issued between 1981 and 1985, sharing design continuity with other denominations through their trilingual typography, architectural vignettes, and consistent use of the Central Bank of Ceylon title at a time when Sri Lanka retained this legacy institutional name. Across the series, each value was distinguished by its dominant colour palette and principal reverse imagery, with the twenty-rupee note carrying its own architectural subject and floral motif to set it apart from lower and higher denominations. The note bridges the colonial nomenclature of Ceylon with the post-independence identity of Sri Lanka, a duality reflected in the multilingual text printed across both faces. Dated 1982-01-01, this example represents an early printing within the 1981–1985 issue window.

On the front, the note is dominated by a rich combination of purple, violet, blue-green, and red-brown tones that shift across the surface in overlapping layers of intaglio and offset printing. The central area of the obverse is occupied by a large circular watermark zone, left intentionally pale to allow the embedded watermark to remain visible when held to the light. To the right of this watermark space sits a detailed architectural vignette rendered in red-brown engraving, depicting a tiered, colonnaded building with a strongly horizontal structure, rendered with fine hatching and cross-hatching that conveys depth and solidity — this is the Parliament Building complex. Flanking the left margin is an elaborate floral and foliate decorative panel in green and orange, featuring stylised lotus and scroll motifs typical of Sri Lankan ornamental design, providing a vertical border to the composition. The denomination numeral “20” appears in large bold print in the upper left and upper right corners, as well as in the lower right corner, each instance rendered in a clean serif typeface. The serial number F/7 678020 appears in red-brown numerals in both the upper right area and the lower left, providing dual placement for security verification. The issuing authority text “CENTRAL BANK OF Ceylon” is printed in clear Roman capitals in the upper central area, flanked on either side by script text in Sinhala and Tamil. Further Sinhala and Tamil script text runs across multiple lines through the central field, identifying the institution and denomination in both national languages. The words “Twenty Rupees” are printed in English in the lower centre in a serif typeface, accompanied by the denomination in Sinhala script immediately above. Two signature lines appear in the central lower area, accompanied by small printed text identifying the signatories’ titles, though the signatures themselves are rendered in cursive script. The date 1982-01-01 is printed in the lower central portion of the note. The overall ground is covered with fine guilloché lathe-work patterns in pale tones, visible beneath the primary printed elements and providing a continuous anti-counterfeiting background across the entire surface.

The reverse is printed predominantly in purple and violet, with tonal variation across the surface achieved through layered offset printing. The upper portion of the reverse carries a large circular watermark window, mirroring the obverse placement, surrounded by an ornate background of interlocking floral and arabesque scroll patterns in green and orange that radiate outward in a fan-like arrangement, filling the upper half with dense decorative detail. Below this decorative field, the central imagery is dominated by an engraved architectural scene depicting an ancient stupa and the surrounding ruins of a classical Sri Lankan heritage site, with a large bodhi tree rendered to the left, its spreading branches detailed in fine line engraving. Stone columns and stepped platforms are visible flanking the domed stupa, conveying the grandeur of an ancient sacred precinct. Below this architectural scene sits a secondary vignette depicting orchid blooms rendered in naturalistic detail with orange and green colouring, providing a botanical counterpoint to the historical stonework above. The denomination numeral “20” appears in bold print in the upper left corner. The text “Central Bank of Ceylon” is printed in Roman type in the upper right area, with Sinhala and Tamil script text running across the upper edge. The words “Twenty Rupees” appear in English along the lower edge, with corresponding denomination text in Sinhala and Tamil script printed immediately above, maintaining the trilingual convention used throughout the series. The lower margins carry additional fine-line printed text in Sinhala and Tamil script identifying the denomination in both languages.

Sell foreign coins and banknotes the simple way: this 20 Rupees Central Bank of Ceylon banknote can be exchanged through Webuyallcurrency.com together with other old or withdrawn Sri Lankan Rupees banknotes, all settled in a single transaction.

• Indicate the quantity of 20 Rupees Rupee banknotes you want to exchange
• Click the ‘Add to your account’ button
• Your online account now shows the exchange value

Exchange foreign coins and banknotes the easy way — Webuyallcurrency.com buys Sri Lankan Rupees banknotes, current or discontinued, and combines them with the rest of your leftover currency for one simple payment.

Other Sri Lankan Rupees you can exchange: 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200.