| Malaya and British Borneo dollar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ringgit (Malay) رڠڬيت (Malay) |
|||
|
|||
| User(s) | Malaya, Singapore, Brunei, British Borneo and Sarawak | ||
| Subunit | |||
| 1/100 | cent | ||
| Symbol | $ | ||
| Coins | 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 sen | ||
| Banknotes | 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 1000, 10,000 dollars | ||
| Central bank | Malayan and British Borneo Board of Commissioners of Currency Bank Negara Malaysia |
||
The Malaya and British Borneo dollar (known as the ringgit in Malay, Jawi:رڠڬيت) was the currency of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo and Brunei from 1953 to 1967. The currency was issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo. Prior to 1952, the board was known as the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya.
The Malaya and British Borneo dollar was used in Malaya after independence in 1957, and in Malaysia after its formation in 1963, as well as in Singapore after its independence in 1965. After 1967, the two countries and Brunei ended the common currency arrangement and began issuing their own currencies. However, the Malaya and British Borneo dollar continued to be legal tender until 16 January 1969.
Contents |
The Currency Ordinance No. 44 of 1952 of the Crown Colony of Singapore, No. 33 of 1951 of the Federation of Malaya, No. 10 of 1951 of the British North Borneo and No. 1 of 1951 of the Crown Colony of Sarawak implemented an agreement between those governments and the State of Brunei for the establishment of a Board of Commissioners of Currency to be the sole issuing authority in Malaya and British Borneo.
This agreement became effective on 1 January 1952. The Board consisted of five members:
On 12 June 1967, the currency union came to an end and Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei each began issuing their own currencies. The currencies of the three countries were interchangeable at par value under the Interchangeability Agreement until 8 May 1973 when the Malaysian government decided to terminate it. Brunei and Singapore continue with the Agreement until the present day.[1]
The Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya and British Borneo was officially wound up on November 30, 1979.[2]
Coins were available in 1 (Square coins issued between 1953 and 1961, circular coins from 1962), 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents.
All notes bear the date 21 March 1953, and signed by W.C. Taylor, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioner of Currency. The 1, 5 and 10 dollar notes were printed by Waterlow and Sons, the 50 and 100 dollar notes were printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd. and the 1,000 and 10,000 dollar notes were printed by Thomas de la Rue & Co. Ltd.. As a safeguard against forgery, a broken security thread and the watermark of a lion's head were incorporated in the paper before printing.
| 1953 Series | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Main Colour | Description | Date of issue | ||
| Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | |||
| $1 | Blue/pink | Elizabeth II | State emblems of the Federation of Malaya and its constituent components, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei | 21 March 1953 | ||
| $5 | Green/yellow | |||||
| $10 | Red/green | |||||
| $50 | Blue/green | |||||
| $100 | Violet/pink | |||||
| $1000 | purple/yellow | |||||
| $10000 | green/multicoloured | |||||
| 1959 Series | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Main Colour | Description | Date of issue | ||
| Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | |||
| $1 | Blue/green | Sail boat | State emblem of the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei; scene of fishermen returning from sea | 1 March 1959 | ||
| $10 | Red/grey | Farmer ploughing padi field with buffalo | State emblem of the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei | 1 March 1961 | ||
| Preceded by: Sarawak dollar (post-WWII) Reason: Creation of a common currency board Ratio: at par, or 8.57 dollars = 1 British pound |
Currency of Sarawak 1953 – 1963 |
Currency of Malaysia 1963 – 1967 |
Succeeded by: Malaysian dollar Location: Malaysia Reason: End of common currency board Ratio: at par, or 8.57 ringgit = 1 British pound |
|
| Preceded by: British North Borneo dollar (post-WWII) Reason: Creation of a common currency board Ratio: at par, or 8.57 dollars = 1 British pound |
Currency of British North Borneo 1953 – 1963 |
|||
| Preceded by: Malayan dollar (post-WWII) Reason: Creation of a common currency board Ratio: at par, or 8.57 dollars = 1 British pound |
Currency of Malaya 1953 – 1963 |
|||
| Currency of Singapore 1953 – 1963 |
Currency of Malaysia 1963 – 1965 |
Currency of Singapore 1965 – 1967 |
Succeeded by: Singapore dollar Location: Singapore Reason: End of common currency board Ratio: at par, or 8.57 dollars = 1 British pound |
|
| Currency of Brunei 1953 – 1967 |
Succeeded by: Brunei dollar Reason: End of common currency board Ratio: at par, or 8.57 dollars = 1 British pound |
|||
| Currency of Riau 1953 – 1963 |
Succeeded by: Riau rupiah Location: Riau Reason: To create a common currency in Indonesia Ratio: at par, or 8.57 Riau rupiah= 1 British pound |
|||
|
|||||||||||||||||