5 Rupees 1979, Sri Lanka
| in Krause book | Number: 84 |
| Years of issue: | 26.03.1979 |
| Edition: | 30 000 000 |
| 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): | 117 х 63 |
| 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:
Top right is the Ceylon Blue Oakleaf (Kallima philarchus) is a nymphalid butterfly, found in Sri Lanka. With wings closed, it closely resembles a dry leaf with dark veins and is a spectacular example of camouflage.
Under it, on the leafs, is Gymnodactylus yakhuna zonatus (Deraniyagala, 1955) or Blotch Bow-finger Gecko. Endemic to Sri Lanka. This species is found below 300 meters altitude in Central, North East and North Central Provinces (typical form) and North and North West Provinces (zonatus form). This species is found in two forms. A spotted form and a banded form (var. zonatus) (Taylor, 1953). Breeding the two forms together gave offspring of both forms (Somaweera & Somaweera, 2009). It is considered Rare but not listed by the IUCN.
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 - "Five 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:
Tropical forest.
Bottom right is the white-faced starling (Sturnornus albofrontatus), is a member of the starling family of birds. It is an endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka. It was for a long time erroneously known as S. senex; this was eventually identified as a junior synonym of the red-billed starling. In Sri Lanka, this bird is known as Hisa sudu Sharikava in the Sinhala language.
White-faced Starling sitting on Artocarpus nobilis tree.
Artocarpus nobilis is a tree species in the Moraceae family. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. A tree restricted to lowland rainforest in south-west of the country.
Travancore Flying Squirrel (Petinomys fuscocapillus), also known as the Small Flying Squirrel or හීන් හම්බවා in sinhala, is a flying squirrel found in South India and Sri Lanka. Travancore Flying Squirrels were thought to be extinct but were rediscovered in 1989 after a gap of 100 years along the Western Ghats in Kerala. It was rediscovered in Sri Lanka after 78 years in the Knuckles Mountain Range. The animals were reported only in wet and intermediate zones of the island, and had a few sightings in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve. Before these discoveries, distribution of the species was only known through a few possible occurrences and museum specimens which were collected nearly one hundred years before.
In the upper left corner is the face value by numeral "5", 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 - "Five Rupees" in Sinhala, Tamil and English.
Comments:
Was valid until 1998. Solid security thread.
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