VICTORIA, by the Grace of GOD, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith.
PROCLAMATION.
By His Excellency SIR HERCULES GEORGE ROBERT ROBINSON,
Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order
of Saint Michael and Saint George,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Island of Ceylon,
with the Dependencies thereof.
WHEREAS We have received from the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies Her Majesty's Order in Council and Proclamation, as follows :
At the Court of Windsor, the 18th day of June, 1869.
Present:
THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
in Council.
WHEREAS there was this day read at the Board the Draft of a Proclamation for the regulation of the currency of Her Majesty's Colony of Ceylon (copy whereof is hereunto annexed), and Her Majesty having taken the same into consideration, was pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to approve thereof, and to order, and it is hereby ordered, that the said Proclamation do take effect and come into force in Her Majesty's Colony of Ceylon in the manner thereby directed,
And the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, and the Right Honourable Earl Granville, one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, are to give the necessary directions herein accordingly.
ARTHUR HELPS.
DRAFT PROCLAMATION.
1. WHEREAS by an Order in Council, bearing date 23rd March, 1825, We were pleased, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council, to declare that a tender and payment of Is. 6d. in British Silver money should be considered as equivalent to a tender and payment of one Rixdollar current at the Cape of Good Hope and at Ceylon, and so in proportion of any greater or less sum, and also that British Copper money should be made a legal tender in all the British Colonies, as by law established in Great Britain;
2. And whereas by an Order in Council, bearing date 16th October, 1852, We were pleased, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council, to approve of the Draft of a Proclamation declaring that in and throughout Our Colonies in Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon, Mauritius, and Hong Kong, the coins of the United Kingdom shall pass current in the manner directed in the several Acts of Parliament which regulate the currency of the said Island that the Silver coins of the United Kingdom shall not be a legal tender in payment of sums exceeding forty shillings:
3. And whereas by an Order in Council, bearing date the 22nd October, 1856, We were pleased, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council, to approve of the Draft of a Proclamation declaring the rates at which Australian Sovereigns and Half Sovereigns coined at the Branch of Our Royal Mint at Sydney in New South Wales are to pass current in Our Colonies of Ceylon, Mauritius, and Hong Kong:
4. Now We, by the advice of Our Privy Council, have thought fit to declare and ordain, and by the advice aforesaid, We do hereby declare and ordain, that from and after a day to be fixed by the Governor or Officer Administering the Government of Ceylon, by Proclamation, the said herein-before recited Order in Council of 23rd March, 1825, and so much of the Orders in Council and Proclamations of the 16th October, 1852, and the 22nd October, 1856, respectively, as have effect and are in force in the Colony of Ceylon, shall be revoked and annulled.
5. And We do hereby further ordain and declare, that from and
after the same date the Regulations of the Ceylon Government No.8 of
1825. and No.8 of 1827, entitled respectively :---
6. And We do hereby further ordain and declare, that from and after the same date, (and subject to further directions to be given by Proclamation of the Governor), the British and local Copper or Bronze coins or tokens at. present in circulation in Our Colony of Ceylon and its Dependencies, and such other copper or bronze tokens as may from time to time be specified by the Governor by Proclamation, shall be a legal tender of payment for any sum not exceeding half a Rupee; the said British and local tokens to continue current until the date of such Proclamation, at the same rates. as regards the Rupee as those at which they at present pass by long established usage and custom, viz. :
| The Penny at the rate of | ⅔rds of an Anna, or | 8 Pie. |
| The Half-penny | ⅓rd of an Anna, or | 4 Pie. |
| The Farthing | ⅙th of an Anna, or | 2 Pie. |
| The Ceylon Fanam | 1 Anna. or | 12 Pie. |
| The Ceylon Stiver or Pice | ¼th of an Anna, or | 3 Pie. |
| The Ceylon Challie | 1/12th of an Anna, or | 1 Pie. |
7. And We do hereby further declare and ordain, that from and after the same date the silver Company's Rupee of India of 180 grains' weight, and 11th-12th fineness, as now legally current in India, and its silver subdivisions of proportionate intrinsic value, consisting of the half rupee(8 annas), the quarter rupee (4 annas), and the eighth of a rupee (2 annas shall be the only legal tender of payment (except as herein-before directed) within Our Colony of Ceylon and its Dependencies.
8. And We do hereby further ordain and declare, that whenever the denomination of British Currency shall have been specified in any Regulation, Ordinance, Proclamation, Minute, Notification, or Contract in force at the date as aforesaid of the bringing into operation of this Proclamation whether as payments to be made to or by the Ceylon Government, such -sums shall continue as heretofore to be received at and paid from the local Treasuries of the Island in Rupees, and the legal subordinate currency .of the Colony at the rate of Two Shillings to the Rupee.
9. And we do hereby further declare and ordain that all other contracts .and engagements expressed in terms of British money, in force at the same date and payable in Our Colony, shall be defrayable in Rupees at the above rate, unless such contract or engagement shall contain any special provision or agreement to the contrary. Now therefore, We, the said Governor of Ceylon, in pursuance and .exercise of the authority vested in Us by the said Order in Council and Proclamation, do hereby proclaim and direct that the said Proclamation shall and do take effect and come into force in Her Majesty's Colony of Ceylon and the Dependencies thereof, from and after the First day of January, 1872.
Given at Colombo, in the said Island of Ceylon, this Twenty-third day of August, in the year of Our Lord One thousand Eight hundred and Seventy one.
By His Excellency's command,
CHARLES P. LAYARD,
Acting Colonial Secretary.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
(The Ceylon Government Gazette No. 3,836 of August 26, 1871.)
Ceylon Currency British Period 1796-1936 By B. W. Fernando, APPENDIX C.
1939, Ceylon Government Press p.40-42
Contents Next APPENDIX D.