Government of Ceylon : 1941 - 1945
George VI Pictorial - Rs 50

King George VI Pictorial Fifty Rupees BankNote by the Board of Commissioners of Currency during WWII. Type has 5 dates with 2 Signature pairs between 1941 and 1945.
1941_kgvi_r50_front 1941_kgvi_r50_back
LK:SCWPM #038
The Notes are 165 by 114 mm i.e. 6 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches.
Printed by lithography process in India Government Security Press.
Water-mark: Ratnapura Raised Lion with whip on paper manufactured by Messrs Portals Ltd.

Front : Purple on blue, Green and brown underprint. Portrait of King George VI on the left, a water-mark panel on the right, and the value in words FIFTY RUPEES in 2 lines in center and in figures 50 on the top two corners. GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON in an arc above THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR PAYMENT OF ANY AMOUNT in an arc and two lines. The date appears above the facsimile signatures of two COMMISSIONERS OF CURRENCY. The value රුපියල් පනහයි in Sinhala on upper left, and ஐம்பது ரூபாய் in Thamil on lower right. The Serial number on the lower left hand side and upper right hand side.
Back : Purple on a Blue and Brown tint underprint with Micro printing text THE GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON. Pictorial at center with caption PADDY FIELD with two farmers, each using plough attached to two buffalos and Coconut plantation in background. The value in figures 50 slanted on upper two corners on either side of GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON in an arc. Lower the value රුපියල් පනහයි in Sinhala on left, and ஐம்பது ரூபாய் in Thamil on right.

Signatures of Commissioners of CurrencyDate on BankNoteFirst Serial #Mintage
in K

H.J. Huxham
C.H. Collins 		1ST SEPTEMBER 1941 C.H. CollinsK/l 00001 216
19TH SEPTEMBER 1942 C.H. CollinsK/2 16001 53
4TH AUGUST 1943 C.H. CollinsK/2 69001 109
12TH JULY 1944 C.H. CollinsK/3 78001 360

O.E. Goonetilleke
C.H. Collins 		24TH JUNE 1945 C.H. CollinsK/7 380011315

The notes were demonetized with all Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes dated before 1970 October 26th and ceased to be legal tender with effect 1970 November 3rd.

The details of this issue are from Sri Lanka Currency of Recent Times 1938-1985 T. M. U. Sallay, 1986 Colombo:Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

On right is a scan of the photograph of a Paddy field used by Artist for the line drawing used on the Rs 50 KGVI pictorial note.

The King GVI Rs50 is a extreamly rare Banknote to find in any condition.
The Unc Specimen note waa scanned at 300 dpi and displayed at 50 dpi. I thank Mr Tuan Sallay for it.