A Confusion of Camels

I had cause recently to dip into Virginia Hewitt’s article: “The camel that never was: British note issues for Ceylon, 1800-1941” as published in the the 1997 British Numismatic Journal, vol. 67.

In discussing the designs of the now extremely rare Treasury issues of 1827 (P-3 to P-5) she notes “there were also attempts to give the Ceylon Treasury notes some local colour.” This included a “female allegory” on the 5-pound note being accompanied by two camels.

She adds, “It is a delightful but surprising scene, not least because the camel is not indigenous to Ceylon. Unfortunately