The Ceylon Coin Web is a purely non-commercial website dedicated to the study and collection of the Coinage of Ceylon (Now Sri Lanka), maintained by a team of knowledgeable enthusiasts.   

Background & history: Ceylon, an Island of 25,000 square miles situated in the Indian Ocean 18 miles South East of India, has a rich Numismatic history dating back from, on the basis of Paleography, the second century BC and reflect her turbulent and sometimes violent history. The 2250 year history of the Island is dominated by the complexity of religious, political and commercial relations maintained throughout many centuries.

The history of Ceylon begins with the arrival, sometime in the fifth century, of Vijaya, the founding father of the Sinhalese race and Buddhism was introduced to Ceylon circa 210 B.C.  The Dravidian (Indian) influence was introduced to the Island around the 3rd century B.C. and continued with Invasions and rule of the whole or parts of the Country by South Indian rulers. The Portuguese first landed in Ceylon in 1506 and ruled till 1658 when they were supplanted by the Dutch who in turn  supplanted the British who seized the Dutch colonies in 1796 and assumed complete control of the Island in 1815, when for the first time a colonial power captured the hill-country kingdom of Kandy. 

Ceylon coins from the Ancient 'Purana' coins to the latest Bi-metallic issues reflect her rich and varied history. The Ceylon Coin Web is organized by the various Monarchs/Periods roughly chronologically and has images and detailed descriptions of basic as well as varieties of the different coin issues. 

The Ceylon Coin web is run by a  dynamic group of enthusiasts who are in the forefront of modern Numismatic research relating to Ceylon. Hence the Website features the latest available information, that may not have been recorded in the standard texts on Ceylon Coins. Also new coins as well as information will be added periodically to keep the Ceylon Coin Web updated with the latest Archaeological and Numismatic finds that are unearthed in Sri Lanka  Our aim is to be the authority on Ceylon coins, so please bookmark the site and visit often. Or if you'd like to be informed every time this web is updated, submit your email in the at the bottom of this page.

Sales Policy: Many collectors from all over the world have written to us regarding the difficulty in obtaining many of the items displayed at this website for their collections and whether we will consider selling. While we unfortunately will not be able to do this, we recommend that you check out the excellent selection of Ceylon material that is generally available with the US based Asian Collectibles Network, we find their quality and service to be excellent. While this website is totally independent of the ACN, we use some of their images here.