Malayan and British Borneo dollars

The Malayan and British Borneo dollar ( also called Ringgit in Malay , Jawi : رڠڬيت) was the currency of the Malaya Federation from 1953 to 1967 , as well as of Singapore , Sarawak , British North Borneo and Brunei . The dollar was divided into 100 cents. The currency was issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo ( German Council of Plenipotentiaries for the currency of Malaya and British Borneo ).

The Malayan and British Borneo dollars remained in use in Malaya after independence in 1957 and after the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Singapore also initially remained in the monetary union after its independence in 1965 . After 1967, the two states and Brunei, which was still British at the time, ended monetary union and began to issue their own currencies. The Malayan and British Borneo dollars remained legal tender until January 16, 1969.

history

Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya and British Borneo

The Monetary Laws No. 44 of the Crown Colony of Singapore of 1952, No. 33 of the Malaya Federation of 1951, No. 10 of the British North Borneos of 1951 and No. 1 of the Crown Colony of Sarawak of 1951 brought into force an agreement between the governments and the government of Brunei envisaged the establishment of a Board of Commissioners of Currency as a joint institution for the issuing of banknotes and coins in the federation of Malaya and British Borneo.

This agreement entered into force on January 1, 1952. The council consisted of five permanent members and two additional members:

1. the Minister of Finance of Singapore, who also assumed the chairmanship
2. the Minister of Finance of the Malaya Federation
3. the governor of Sarawak
4. the governor of British North Borneo
5. the British resident in Brunei
6. two additional members appointed by the participating governments.

The end of the monetary union

Monetary union ended on June 12, 1967, and Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei began to issue their own currencies. The currencies of the three countries remained linked by an agreement until May 8, 1973 in a ratio of 1: 1: 1. While Malaysia left the monetary union with effect from this date, Brunei and Singapore have adhered to the agreement to this day. The Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya and British Borneo was officially dissolved on November 30, 1979.

Coins

Coins were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents. A special feature was the first 1 cent coin from 1953 to 1961, which has a square format.

Banknotes

Series from 1953

All banknotes are dated March 21, 1953 and signed by the Chairman of the Board of Commissioner of Currency , WC Taylor. The $ 1, 5, and 10 bills were printed by Waterlow and Sons , the $ 50 and $ 100 bills were printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., and the $ 1,000 and $ 10,000 bills were printed by De La Rue . As a measure against counterfeiting, the bills have a broken security thread and a watermark in the form of a lion's head.

Series from 1953
image		value	Main colors	description		Issue date
Obvers	reverse			Obvers	reverse
		$ 1	Blue / pink	Elizabeth II	Coats of arms of the Malaya Federation and its members, as well as Singapore , Sabah , Sarawak and Brunei	March 21, 1953
		$ 5	Green yellow
		$ 10	Red Green
		$ 50	Blue green
		$ 100	Purple / pink
		$ 1000	Purple / yellow
		$ 10,000	Green / multicolored

Series from 1959

Series from 1959
image		value	Main colors	description		Issue date
Obvers	reverse			Obvers	reverse
		$ 1	Blue green	Sailboat	Coat of arms of the Malaya , Singapore , Sabah , Sarawak and Brunei Federation ; Scene with fishermen returning home	March 1, 1959
		$ 10	Red / gray	Farmer plowing a rice field with a buffalo	Coat of arms of the Malaya Federation and of Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei	March 1, 1961

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Currency History of Singapore ( Memento from May 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ History of Money in Malaysia: Colonial Notes & Coins . Bank Negara Malaysia. 2010. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 21, 2010.  

Web links

• Monetary History of Malaysia on private site , accessed October 14, 2013
• Page depicting the banknotes , accessed October 14, 2013
• Coins of Malaya and British Borneo . Retrieved October 14, 2013