50 Rupees Central Bank Of Ceylon Banknote (Fauna And Flora Series)

50 Rupees Rupee (Issued 1979)

The 1979 series issued by the Central Bank of Ceylon represents one of the most visually distinctive runs of Sri Lankan banknotes, unified across denominations by a shared commitment to celebrating the island’s exceptional natural heritage through detailed botanical and zoological illustration. The 50 Rupee denomination within this series is particularly striking in its composition, devoting the majority of both faces to richly engraved wildlife subjects drawn from Sri Lanka’s endemic flora and fauna. Printed in 1979 and dated 26 March of that year, the note carries the institutional identity of the Central Bank of Ceylon at a pivotal moment in the country’s monetary history. It stands apart from the lower denominations of the same series through a more elaborate, multi-layered design that fills the note with naturalistic detail on both sides.

On the front, the dominant visual element is a large, finely engraved illustration of a Sri Lanka magpie, identified by its printed scientific name Phoenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus, positioned towards the right-hand side of the note. This bird is rendered with considerable precision — the red head colouring, the long trailing tail feathers, and the contrasting black and white plumage of the body are all clearly delineated in the engraving. To the left of the bird, a butterfly is depicted mid-flight, labelled with the scientific name Lothe dynastes, set against a backdrop of rocky outcrops and stylised landscape elements suggesting a mountain scene with a sunset or sunrise rendered in pale warm tones to the upper right. Botanical detail is provided by the scientific label Hydnocarpus venenata, which appears in the lower right portion of the design, accompanying leafy foliage that frames the lower edge. The overall colour palette of the front is a warm combination of tan, brown, pale orange and cream, with the central illustration printed in richer tonal contrasts. To the left of the note, a large guilloché-style panel contains Sinhala script text running vertically, alongside further Sinhala text in the upper left and lower left regions of the note. The denomination numeral 50 appears prominently in the upper left within an intricate oval of fine-line engraving, and again in plain numerals in the lower left corner. The serial number T/8 644356 appears both in the upper right and the lower left of the note, printed in dark ink. The words CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON appear in Roman capital letters along the left edge of the note, printed vertically. The date 1979-03-26 is visible in printed text alongside what appear to be two facsimile signature lines accompanied by Sinhala script titles. The paper has a light cream ground with offset lithographic printing providing the background tones and intaglio engraving giving depth and texture to the principal illustrations.

The reverse of the note continues the naturalistic theme with equal ambition, presenting a landscape composition of considerable detail across the full width of the note. The central and lower portions of the reverse feature two large, elaborately engraved birds identified by the printed scientific name Galloperdix bicalcarata, the Sri Lanka spurfowl, depicted standing amidst ground-level vegetation. The birds are rendered in rich brown, tan and cream tones, with spotted and barred plumage carefully illustrated through fine line work. Rising behind them is a leafy tropical backdrop featuring a tall tree identified by the label Mesua ferrea in small Roman text near the upper right, with pale pink pendant flowers hanging from branches across the upper centre of the design, identified by the label Dipterocarpus zeylanicus. The overall colour scheme of the reverse moves through muted greens, dusty blues, soft pinks and warm browns, creating a naturalistic palette evocative of the Sri Lankan forest interior. In the upper left, the denomination numeral 50 appears again alongside Sinhala and Tamil script text, and the words CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON are printed in Roman capitals. The lower portion of the reverse carries further Sinhala and Tamil script labels for the denomination, alongside the printed English text Fifty Rupees in the lower right corner. The borders of the reverse incorporate fine repeated geometric patterns providing a structured frame around the central illustration, and the paper shows the characteristic texture of the period’s security printing, with faint watermark patterns visible across the lighter areas of the design.

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• Indicate the quantity of 50 Rupees Rupee banknotes you want to exchange
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Other Sri Lankan Rupees you can exchange: 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 100, 200.