MR. B. W. FERNANDO'S work on the currency of Ceylon during the British Period, though perhaps not appealing to the general public, supplies a want and will be appreciated by those interested in the subject, based, as it is on records official and unofficial. Mr. Fernando has divided his thesis into two main heads, namely, the coinage and the paper currency. Under the first he deals with the British copper and silver struck locally and in the United Kingdom, with the introduction of sterling, with the subsequent supremacy of the Indian rupee, and finally with the decimal subsidiary tokens with which we are now familiar. Under the second head we read of the Dutch Kredit Brieven and" cash notes", the early British rixdollar and sterling notes, the notes issued by the banks, and lastly the restoration of a Government currency.
Mr. Fernando is to be congratulated on his painstaking researches, for which the student will be duly grateful. His work is a credit to him and through him to the Public Service of Ceylon.
H. W. CODRINGTON.
November 30, 1938.
Ceylon Currency British Period 1796-1936 By B. W. Fernando, Forward
1939, Ceylon Government Press p.iii
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