Sunday Times 2
National Trust lecture on the history of Lankan banknotes
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“Lankan banknotes from 1785 to modern” will be the subject of the National Trust lecture by Dr. Kavan Ratnatunga, Numismatist at 6.30p.m. on Thursday June 27.
The lecture will be held at the HNB Auditorium, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10. The lectures are strictly for National Trust members only due to the present security situation.
The 235-year history of banknotes since the Dutch first introduced paper money for Ceylon in 1785 to modern currency issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka reflects changes in economics, politics and technology. Early notes in Rix Dollars were redeemable in copper.
The language on the notes changed from Dutch to English to Sinhala with varying amount of other languages. Only the denomination has always been given in three languages. Watermarks were introduced around the 1840s. Ultraviolet printing was introduced in 1970 and their beauty remains unseen by the public who handle the banknotes.
Dr. Kavan Ratnatunga studied at Royal College, Colombo. After qualifying as an astrophysicist, with a 1983 PhD from the Australian National University, his 25-year career included research at Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Space Telescope Science Institute and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
He returned to Lanka in 2005 and is Vice President of the Sri Lanka Numismatic Society, and the Archaeological Society of Sri Lanka.