World chat: Ceylon

9 posts
Ceylon, (now Sri Lanka) a large island in the Indian Ocean, is situated just off the southeast coast of India, a few degrees above the equator. It had an area of 25,000 square miles. It was best known for the tea it exports, but during the 19th century it was best known for its coffee.
The Portuguese were the first European settlers arriving in 1505. The Dutch took control of the Portuguese settlements in 1658. In 1796 the British took over the island from the Dutch and administered Ceylon from Madras until 1798 when it became a British Crown Colony. On February 4, 1948, it became a Dominion in the British Commonwealth.
A lengthy series of coins was issued for Ceylon while it was administered by the Dutch under the United East India Company. These coins are described in detail by Scholten in his book entitled "The Coins of the Dutch Overseas Territories" and briefly by type coin by Craig in his book, "Coins of the World, 1750 to 1850."
The coinage of British Ceylon can be divided into two periods: The Rix dollar coinage which was issued from 1801 through 1821 with 48 Stivers equivalent to one Rix dollar; and the rupee coinage which was first issued in 1892 with 100 cents equivalent to one rupee. The coinage minted in Ceylon from 1801 through 1816 is very crude and the coins are referred to as dumps. The coinage struck at the Royal Mint, London, from 1802 through 1821 in the usual well made, milled coinage. British imperial and Indian coinage circulated in Ceylon between the two periods.
The British imperial ¼ farthing, a tiny copper coin, was struck exclusively for Ceylon. The British imperial ½ farthing issued between 1828 and 1839 was shipped only to Ceylon and was not used in Great Britain during this period. The ½ farthing issued between 1842 through 1868 circulated in Great Britain, Ceylon and other colonies. The British imperial 1½ pence was sent to Ceylon as well as other British colonies. These coins are catalogued with those of Great Britain.

The coins for Ceylon were struck at the following mints:
The Bombay Mint, Bombay, India-an incuse B mint mark below the lower cross in the crown on 1919-1921 coins and no mint mark on other dates.
The Calcutta Mint, Calcutta, India-no mint mark.
The Mint, Birmingham Ltd., Birmingham, England-H mint mark.
Imperial Metal Industries (formerly Imperial Chemical Industries (Kynoch) Ltd., which was formerly King's Norton Metal Company), Birmingham, England-no mint mark.
The Royal Mint, London, England-no mint mark.
The same denomination for the same year was struck at two mints on a few occasions, but there is no way to differentiate the coins.
The 2c and 5c dated 1951 were struck at the Bombay mint in 1951. The l0c, 25c and S0c dated 1951 were struck at the Bombay mint in 1951 and 1952 and at the Royal Mint in 1959. There are very minor differences in the date numerals' or native characters in the dies of each mint.
The 1951 5c, although struck only in proof condition, has been re-struck and so it is not scarce.
The silver coinage was withdrawn from circulation late in 1942 and so the 1941 and 1942 silver coins are somewhat scarce.
The 1942 one cent occurs on a thin planchet showing a small head of King George VI (as the 1943 and 1945 one cent) and also on a thick planchet showing a larger head of King George VI (as the one cent of 1940 and before).
A lengthy series of tokens was struck by the various coffee plantation owners and merchants in Ceylon during the 19th century. They are well described in Pridmore, Volume II.
A shortage of coinage during World War II necessitated the issuance of fractional currency notes of 5c, 10c,25c and S0c.
Ceylon had its own banknotes.
I have one coin from Ceylon. A 1957 Rupee commemorating the 2,500 year anniversary of Buddhism. It's one of my favorite coins.
Quote: "frncsbrennan"​I have one coin from Ceylon. A 1957 Rupee commemorating the 2,500 year anniversary of Buddhism. It's one of my favorite coins.
​Thanks for sharing. I have one as well and have listed it under Ceylon

Roy
We have been working in parallel here. I can modify my post to the Sri Lanka one and keep Roy's for Ceylon.

Thanks for contributing!
Quote: "jokinen"​We have been working in parallel here. I can modify my post to the Sri Lanka one and keep Roy's for Ceylon.

​Thanks for contributing!
​Sorry
I checked the list and thought that Ceylon was free and did not think of checking Sri Lanka!

Roy
Quote: "frncsbrennan"​I have one coin from Ceylon. A 1957 Rupee commemorating the 2,500 year anniversary of Buddhism. It's one of my favorite coins.
​I got one recently too beautiful unc coin... First time my wife ever stopped and looked at one of my coins and said that's a pretty design!
Quote: "numismaticroy"​The coinage of British Ceylon can be divided into two periods: The Rix dollar coinage which was issued from 1801 through 1821 with 48 Stivers equivalent to one Rix dollar; and the rupee coinage which was first issued in 1892 with 100 cents equivalent to one rupee.

Roy, lower denominations of the Rupee were in production for at least two decades prior to 1892.

After the Rix Dollar ceased to be minted early in the 19th century there is a very long span of several decades before the introduction of the Rupee. You have already identified the minor Imperial coppers which were used but were there any higher denomination coins in circulation? It really does seem like an awfully long time to be bridged by just a few low value coins.

Does anyone know if the old Rix Dollars circulated alongside the Imperial issues? It seems to me that there would be some pretty worn out coins by 1870! Imagine the state of current US or British coin if the mints had ceased all activity since 1972.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
Before the Rixdollar, coins of the United East India Company (VOC) were used in Ceylon (and in Malacca and Java). This followed the Dutch Republic's monetary system roughly with 1 Guilder = 20 Stivers and 1 Stiver = 8 Duit. Due to different supply balances of copper, silver and gold in Asia as compared to Europe, this system fluctuated here and there.

The Rixdollar (Rijksdaalder) was a large silver coin based on the Spanish 8 Reales and worth around 48 Stivers. Later, when Holland decimalised its Guilder, the Rijksdaalder became the name of the 2.5 Guilder coin.

Somehow Dutch Ceylon money must have devalued around 1800, not unlikely because of the Napoleonic Wars cutting it off from the Dutch Republic and the British taking over. Where 48 Stivers were worth around 4 Shillings, the British used a rate of 1s6d by the time they controlled Ceylon currency.

In 1825 Britain made Pound Sterling the official currency throughout the British Empire. Similar to the West Indies where this transition was not well received, this decision was revised in 1836 by making the Indian Rupee the official currency of Ceylon at a rate of 2 Shillings per Rupee. The Ceylonese Rupee was decimalised already in 1869 with the first copper coins being issued, but silver British Indian coinage was used until at least 1892.

So here's your answer Phil. Domestic UK coinage replaced the Rixdollar in 1825, which in turn was replaced by British Indian coinage in 1836.
I I have a few pieces. From here but have just added the rix dollar of 1821 to my collection. I have some of the cob coinage but it's an area which I'm going to try to improve.

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