1979 - Sri Lanka - Flora and Fauna
50 Rupee note

The Central Bank of Ceylon (CBSL) issued, for circulation, in 1979 a series of currency Notes based on the paintings by Laki Senanayake on the theme Endemic Flora and Fauna of Sri Lanka dated 1979-03-26 and issued into circulation in 1980 August.?
images/1979_03_26_lkff_50r_uvf.jpg images/1979_03_26_lkff_50r_uvb.jpg
Click on image to see Note Security under Ultra-Violet illumination
Flora and Fauna on both front and back are identified by Scientific names printed next to it in English italic font.
Predominant Color :Front - blue with brown and black.
:Back - blue with olive-green, red-brown and black.
Size: 146 x 73 mm
Front: Landscape
Numeric 50 at all four corners. At top left of center the value රුපියල් පනහයි in Sinhala. ஐம்பது ரூபாய் in Thamil, and FIFTY RUPEES in English, in arcs above and below Numeric 50 on upper left.
Vertical on lower left in Sinhala, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව, with smaller Legality Legend in 3 lines
ශ්‍රී ලංකාණ්ඩුව වෙනුවෙන් නිකුත් කරන ලද මේ
මුදල් නෝට්ටුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඇතුළත ඕනෑම මුදල් ගණනක්
ගෙවිම සඳහා නිතියෙන් වලංගුය
Two Facsimile signatures above මුදල් ඈමති, and next මහ බැංකුවේ අධිපති.
Date 1978-03-26
இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி in Thamil and
CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON in English.
Horizontal Serial number on bottom left and upper right.
A bird at right, the red-faced malkoha (Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus), atop a tree (Hydnocarpus venenata) known as Makulu gaha. At left is the rare Ceylon Forester butterfly (Lethe dynsate), set off against a sunset over a lake background.
Back: Portrait
Numeric 50 at upper left. ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව in Sinhala, இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி in Thamil and CENTRAL BANK OF CEYLON in English, in 3 lines of decreasing font size, justified on upper right.
රුපියල් පනහයි in Sinhala, ஐம்பது ரூபாய் in Thamil, and FIFTY RUPEES in English, in 3 lines of decreasing font size justified on lower right.
At bottom is a pair of birds, the Ceylon spurfowl (Galloperdix bicalcarata), set off against a scenic background containing a Ayurvedic Diya Na tree, or the ironwood (Mesua thwaitesii) and flowers, the Vesak orchid (Dendrobium mc carthiae). At left is a Pinum Katussa, the Ceylon Kangaroo Lizard (Otocryptis wiegmanni).
In the region of sky in center left the pattern of the 12 brighter stars of the constellation of Orion is clearly marked.
Watermark: Lion standing on hind legs facing left with bent whip in right paw, Lion Lighter with outline including whip darker than paper.
Security Thin polyester thread of 1 mm width embedded in note. Micro-printing background a grid vertical lines distorted by non-uniform pattern.
UV Printing: Front: Signature, Date and Serial Numbers, in Green. Outlines of Flag Lion with Sword in raised right paw; Two small each, right and left of center in Orange.
Back: Bird at Bottom and part of bird above and flowers in Greenish Yellow.
Latent image: In middle of the triangular rock lower left of center the Numeric value 50 written italic with horizontal lines on vertical line background, as seen on this 1200 dpi scan on right.

Denom.Date on
BankNote   		Finance MinisterCBSL GovernorFirst Serial #Mintage
in K
Rs.50 1979-03-26 Ronnie de Mel Warnasena Rasaputram T/1 000001 15,000
Minister of Finance Governor
Central Bank of Ceylon
1979-03-26
Ronnie de Mel Warnasena Rasaputram

This Note displays Endemic Sri Lanka Flora and Fauna, The 3 in Front and 4 in Back are all found in Low altitudes Wet Zone. The Front and Back of Rs 50 note represents the Flora and Fauna of the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites listed in Sri Lanka. However the Background ocean view is inconsistant with the Sinharaja Forest Reserve which is in the interior of the Island of Lanka.

According to Artist Laki Senanayake, his friend Reggie Siriwardena, a Sri Lankan academic, who was also an amateur Astronomer, had suggested the name Mintaka for his daughter. Mintaka, the name of the westernmost star in Orion's belt (Delta Orionis). I thank Michael Meyler for pointing out the Orion constellation about which he had heard from Laki and mentions in his appreciation. It is a pity it was not highlighted in the UV-image like a night-time view. As an astronomer and a Numismatist, I feel embarrassed that I had not noticed it.

Text edited from book Sri Lanka Currency of Recent Times 1938 - 1985 by Mr. T M U Sallay 1986 CBSL Colombo.
For collected details of the Flora and Fauna see NotesCollector.
The note was scanned at 300 dpi and displayed at 50 dpi.