5 Rupees Central Bank Of Ceylon Banknote (Armorial Ensign Series)

5 Rupees Rupee (Issued 1956-1962)

In post-independence Ceylon, a five-rupee note represented a meaningful sum in daily life — enough to cover a modest day’s wages for a labourer, purchase staple foodstuffs at a local market, or pay for short-distance bus travel across the island. Issued from 1956 under the newly styled Central Bank of Ceylon, this note circulated during one of the most transformative periods in the country’s modern history, following independence from British rule in 1948. It passed through the hands of merchants, civil servants, farmers, and traders as Ceylon built its post-colonial economy. The note was eventually withdrawn from circulation, making it a document of a pivotal era in the island’s financial history.

On the front, the design is printed predominantly in shades of red and rose-pink against a pale cream background, with intricate guilloché latticework forming a delicate security pattern across the entire field of the note. At the upper centre, the issuing authority name appears in Sinhala script within a decorative header panel, establishing this as a Central Bank of Ceylon issue. The denomination “FIVE RUPEES” is printed in clear Roman lettering in the upper left area, while the numeral 5 appears in both the lower left and upper right corners. Centrally positioned on the left half of the note is the Sri Lanka state emblem — a lion passant holding a sword, set within a circular cartouche surrounded by petals and decorative borders, rendered in fine intaglio engraving with crisp line detail. A date printed within the central area reads 1956-7-30, indicating the specific issue date of this particular note. The serial number C/20 645244 appears twice — once in the upper right in dark ink, and again in the lower left — providing a dual-reference security feature. Several lines of Sinhala script text occupy the central and lower portions of the obverse, including what are the promise and authority clauses standard to banknote design. Two manuscript-style signatures appear beneath the central text block, representing the authorising officials of the Central Bank of Ceylon at the time of issue. The denomination numeral 5 also appears in Sinhala script in the lower right corner. The border of the note features repeating geometric and floral ornamental patterns, adding further visual complexity to the design.

The reverse is printed in a combination of olive-green and deep rose-red tones on the same cream-coloured paper stock. The upper border carries the Central Bank of Ceylon name in Sinhala script within a decorative band that mirrors the styling of the obverse header. The central vignette, the dominant design feature of the reverse, depicts a large standing statue of a figure in classical South Asian form — a robed and crowned figure standing in a formal frontal pose upon a plinth, engraved with fine cross-hatching and line work that gives the image considerable depth and detail. This figure is understood to represent King Parakramabahu, a celebrated monarch of ancient Ceylon, rendered in the style of a well-known historic statue. To the right of the central vignette, the denomination value is stated in Sinhala script, and below this, Tamil script text provides the denomination in Tamil. At the lower left, the English text “FIVE RUPEES” is printed in clean serif typography. The numeral 5 appears in both lower corners, framed by ornamental borders. The background of the reverse is covered in fine guilloché wave patterns in the olive tones, providing a security underprint against the central image. A printer’s imprint appears in very small text along the lower margin, consistent with notes produced at the time by established security printers.

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Other Sri Lankan Rupees you can exchange: 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200.