Currency in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a country with a long history and a similarly long and rich economic history. Coins used through different time periods of a country play an important role when studying the history of that country.

Sri Lanka’s currency-use can be divided into following periods.

1. Anuradhapura Era
2. Polonnaruwa to Kotte Era
3. Kandy Era
4. Colonial Era
5. Post-Independence Period since Establishment of the Central Bank of Ceylon

Anuradhapura Era 

The first established kingdom in ancient Sri Lanka. Founded by King Pandukabhaya in 377 BC.

Coins used in Anuradhapura Era

                 Kahapana

                 Swastika coins

                 Maneless Lion coins 

                 Lakshmi Plaques 

                 Kahavanu or Lankeshvara coin  

                 Foreign Coins  

Kahapana - The earliest unit of currency known in the island is referred to as a Kahapana. They are called puranas in Sanskrit and eldings in English. They are commonly known as punch marked coins, due to the marks or symbols that had been struck either on one side or both sides of the coin. Kahapanas are reckoned to have been produced by cutting strips of metal from hammered sheets. The known coins have been of many shapes, such as round, square, rectangular or oblong. Their weight had been adjusted by clipping the corners. The metal of the Kahapana has been found mostly to be silver. 

Swastika coins - Apart from the ‘Kahapana’ coin with its many markings, other types of coins were also used during the Anuradhapura era. The tusker and swastika coin is one such type. It is a small Copper coin. A chosen few markings that occasionally appeared on the ‘Kahapana’ were added in the making of this particular coin. 

Maneless Lion coins -  This is a Copper coin. On one side, there is an image of a lion. On the other side, there are three or sometimes four dots. It is likely that these dots indicate the value of the coin.

Lakshmi Plaques -  Coins with a female figure carved into the face were first circulated in Sri Lanka as early as 3 B.C - 8 A.D. It is believed that the woman on the coin is the goddess Lakshmi.

Kahavanu or Lankeshvara coin  - A Sinhalese gold coinage known as the 'Kahavanu" had been in circulation in the island from about the 7th to 8th centuries AD. These coins were either gold or gold-plated. 

Foreign Coins  - Clear proof that Sri Lanka was a functioning naval base in the past comes from the foreign coins used during the Anuradhapura era. A great number of Greek, Roman, Chinese, Arabic and Indian coins used in international trade were found in Anuradhapura, Mihintale, Sigiriya, Kurunegala, Matara, Akurugoda and Badulla.

Polonnaruwa to Kotte Era

Coins used in Polonnaruwa to Kotte Era

                Massa Coins

                Dambadeni Coins / Coins of the Middle Ages

                Lion Coins

                Cetu Coins

  The period covers the kingdoms of Polonnaruwa 1017-1070, 1070-1232, Dambadeniya 1232 – 1272, Yapahuwa 1272-1293, Kurunegala 1293-1340, Gampola 1341- 1374 and Kotte (Sithavaka 1521-1593) 1372-1597.

Massa Coins - King Vijayabahu I who was responsible for toppling of the Chola dynasty, uniting the country and the inception of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom; also produced ‘Kahawanu’. He added his name to the face of the coin. Thus he is the first Sinhalese King to have had his name engraved on coins that were issued during his reign. This coin was known as ‘Massa’

Dambadeni Coins / Coins of the Middle Ages - The golden ‘Kahawanu’ was a product of the last stages of the Anuradhapura era. The ‘Kahawanu’ entered the Polonnaruwa era in the form of a Copper coin. Nonetheless, coins that were used from the beginning of the Polonnaruwa era to the Dambadeni era are identified as the ‘coins of middle ages’ or Dambadeni. The ‘Dambadeni Massa’ coin is in fact the same as the Massa minted in the Polonnaruwa era. 

Lion Coins - These coins are known as ‘Lion coins’. This particular type of coin is the last of the ones bearing the names of the rulers.

Cetu Coins - The Cetu was issued in the 13th century under the rule of king Aryachakravarthi who ruled in Jaffna. This coin is a close imitation of the Dambadeni Massa. There is an image of a cow on one side and a standing figure (similar to that on the Dambadeni Massa) on the other. This coin is made of Copper.

 Kandy Era

Coins used in Kandy Era

                 Angutu Massa/Koku Coins/ Laarin

                 Dambadeni kasi

                 Salli

                 Indian ‘Waragama’

                 Tuttu

                 Panama

                 Tangama

                    Kandy was the last capital of the Sinhala monarchy. Kandyan Kingdom which was founded about 1474, remained an independent kingdom until the “Hill Country Agreement” dated March 2nd, 1815 was signed transferring Sri Lanka’s autonomy to the British. The Portuguese and Dutch established in the maritime areas in the 16th – 18th Centuries

In the 10th century, a gold coin known as ‘Masuran’ was used in transactions. Because gold is a rare and precious metal, the ‘Masuran’ gradually went out of use.Therefore by the 13th century, the term ‘Masuran’ referred instead to a type of copper coin.

By the end of the 16th century, two types of Silver coins ‘Ridi (Massa)’ and ‘Panama’ came into use. But by this time, the gold coins ‘Ran Panam’ and ‘Ran massa’ were somewhat already in use. Later the ‘Thangam Massa’, ‘Podi (small) Thangama’, ‘Ridiya’ came in to use. In the 18th century, the Indian ‘Waragama’ was utilized in Sri Lanka.Around the same time, the copper coin ‘Salli’ was also used for transactions. One ‘Ridiya’ was worth  ‘Salli’ coins.

Colonial Era

                               Even though we divided Sri Lanka’s past into eras such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy; in all those eras, the entirety of Sri Lanka was never governed by one King. In different instances, the island was invaded by foreign powers. However, until the Kotte Era, the only invaders were the Chola.

Malacca - The Portugal Coat of Arms appears on one side of the Malacca coin.AM is the abbreviation for Asian Malacca. Similarly, MA and DM are abbreviations for Malacca and De Malacca respectively. The Portuguese minted some of these coins in Goa specifically to be used in Sri Lanka.

Gini Massa - The coin ‘Gini Maessa’ is commonly known as ‘Gini Massa’. There is an inscription of a gridiron on its flipside. Therefore this coin should be known as “Gini Maessa” which means gridiron in Sinhala.

Coins of Saints - This series of coins bear the Portuguese Coat of Arms on one side (with GA imprinted on either side) and an image of a Saint on the flipside.

Dutch Period (1658–1796)

Duits - The coin that was most commonly used in transactions of this period is the Duit. This is a type of very small Copper coin. Due to its size, it was very inconvenient to count large numbers of Duits during transactions However, this measure did not prove to be as successful as anticipated. 

The First Bank Note - Up until the last half of Dutch Sri Lanka, only coins were used in

transactions. But in the final years of the 1700s, Dutch security expenditure increased exponentially. The expenditure vastly surpassed income and almost emptied the treasury. The birth of the banknote took place against this backdrop. 

So on March 19, 1785 banknotes equivalent to 25,000 Pathaga were authorized for printing. Accordingly, Sri Lanka’s first series of banknotes was issued on the 10th of May, 1785. The first notes had values equivalent to 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Pathaga. Afterwards, notes of 1,2,3,4,5,10 Pathaga were also printed. These notes contained the signatures of three government officials.

 Post Independence Period Since Establishment of the Central Bank of Ceylon

The Central Bank of Ceylon was established on 28th August 1950 in terms of the Monetary Law Act No. 58 of 1949. The Monetary Law Act provided for establishment of a Monetary Board to administer, among other things, the issue of currency, which included both notes and coins.

Coins issued by the Central Bank of Ceylon

The notes issued by the British were used in Ceylon up to 1951 and the coins were used up to 1963. The first Sri Lankan coin series was introduced in 1963.

•  One cent
•  Two cents
•  Five cents
•  Ten cents
•  Twenty-Five cents
•  Fifty cents
•  One rupee