2 Rupees 1979, Sri Lanka
in Krause book | Number: 83 |
Years of issue: | 26.03.1979 |
Edition: | 60 000 000 |
Signatures: | Minister of Finance: Mr. Ronald Joseph Godfrey de Mel, Governor: Mr. Warnasena Rasaputram |
Serie: | 1979 Issue |
Specimen of: | 26.03.1979 |
Material: | 100% raw cotton |
Size (mm): | 108 х 60 |
Printer: | De la Rue Lanka Currency and Securities Print (Pvt) Ltd, Malawana |
* All pictures marked are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.

Description
Watermark:
The Sri Lanka Lion (Panthera leo sinhaleyus), also known as the Ceylon Lion, was a prehistoric subspecies of lion, endemic to Sri Lanka. It appears to have become extinct prior to the arrival of culturally modern humans, c. 37,000 years BC.
This lion is only known from two teeth found in deposits at Kuruwita. Based on these teeth, P. Deraniyagala erected this subspecies in 1939. However, there is insufficient information to determine how it might differ from other subspecies of lion. Deraniyagala did not explain explicitly how he diagnosed the holotype of this subspecies as belonging to a lion, though he justified its allocation to a distinct subspecies of lion by its being "narrower and more elongate" than those of recent lions in the British Natural History Museum collection.
Avers:
In the upper right part of the banknote is the image of coastal boulders.
Under them - The black ruby barb (Pethia nigrofasciata) or purple head barb. It is a tropical cyprinid fish endemic to Sri Lanka, where it occurs in forested streams from the Kelani basin to the Nilwala basin. They are found in streams on hills around 1000 ft. (300 m.) in elevation. The brightly colored population introduced to Mahaweli at Ginigathena, Sri Lanka are said to have diminished in number due to the aquarium export trade.
Vertically, along the left edge, are the inscriptions in Sinhala, Tamil and English languages "Central Bank of Ceylon". Centered, over the field of banknote watermark, indicated the serial number. Underneath is the denomination in words in Sinhala language - "Two rupees". Below the watermark is the date of issue of the banknote - 26.03.1979.
Denominations in numerals are in all corners, in numeral and in words top left.
Revers:
Centered, over the field of watermark, is the Tamil Lacewing (Cethosia nietneri nietneri). It is a species of nymphalid butterfly, endemic in Sri-Lanka.
The Haly's tree skink (Dasia haliana) is a species of tree skink found in Sri Lanka. Earlier thought to be found in the Western Ghats, taxonomic studies have shown this to be a Sri Lankan endemic, differentiated from Indian species. It is the only arboreal skink in Sri Lanka.
The skink sitting on the branch of Murraya cleniei - subspecies of Murrayi paniculata.
Murraya paniculata, commonly called Orange Jessamine, is a tropical, evergreen plant bearing small, white, scented flowers, which is grown as an ornamental tree or hedge. Murraya is closely related to Citrus, and bears small orange to red fruit resembling kumquats, though some cultivars do not set fruit.
In the upper left corner is the face value by numeral "2", the right of which is the inscription in Sinhala, Tamil and English, "Central Bank of Ceylon". At the bottom of the banknote, under skink, is an inscription - "Two Rupees" in Sinhala, Tamil and English.
Comments:
Was valid until 1998.
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