The rixdollar was the currency of British Ceylon until 1828. It was subdivided into 48 ''stivers'', each of 4 ''duit''. Units called the '' fanam'' and ''larin'' were also used, worth 4 and 9½ stiver, respectively. The currency derived from the

Dutch rijksdaalder The ''rijksdaalder'' (Dutch, "Imperial dollar") was a Dutch coin first issued by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in the late 16th century during the Dutch Revolt which featured an armored half bust of William the Silent. It was the ...

and stuiver, although the rijksdaalder was worth 50 stuiver. Initially containing over 25 grams fine silver worth 4

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...

and sixpence in the 17th century, the Ceylonese rixdollar was worth just one-third this amount by the 19th century. In 1825 it was replaced by the

British pound Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, an ...

at a rate of 1 rixdollar = 1 shillings, less than the

Indian rupee The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use w ...

which was worth about 1 shillings.

Coins

The Netherlands United East India Company (VOC) issued coins during the 18th century in denominations of and 1

duit The duit (plural: ''duiten''; en , doit) was a copper Dutch coin worth 2 ''penning'', with 8 duit pieces equal to one ''stuiver'' and 160 duit pieces equal to one ''gulden''. In Dutch Indonesia 4 duit pieces were equal to one ''stuiver''. ...

, , 1, 2 and stuiver and 1 rixdollar. After the British took over Ceylon, dump coins (crudely struck copper pieces) were introduced in 1801 in denominations of , and rixdollar. In 1802, milled, copper coins for , and rixdollar were added, although the dump coins continued to be produced until 1816. Silver coins were introduced in 1803 for 24, 48 and 96 stivers. In 1815, copper , 1 and 2 stuiver coins were issued, equal in value to the , and rixdollar denominations. Silver rixdollar coins were issued in 1821.

Banknotes

The Government of Ceylon issued notes denominated in rixdollars, including 5 rixdollar notes in 1809 and 2 rixdollars in 1826.

References

Notes

* * Currencies of Sri Lanka Coins of Sri Lanka Modern obsolete currencies 1828 disestablishments {{SriLanka-stub