The Malaya and British Borneo dollar ( ms, ringgit; ms, رڠڬيت, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) was the

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

of Malaya,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

, North Borneo,

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

and the

Riau archipelago The Riau Archipelago is a ''geographic'' term (as opposed to administrative region) for the core group of islands within the Riau Islands Province in Indonesia, and located south of Singapore and east of Riau on Sumatra. Before the province of R ...

from 1953 to 1967 and was the successor of the

Malayan dollar The Malayan dollar ( Malay: ''ringgit'', Jawi: رڠڬيت) was the currency of the British colonies and protectorates in Malaya and Brunei until 1953. It was introduced in 1939, replacing the Straits dollar at par, with 1 dollar = two shillings ...

and

Sarawak dollar The dollar was the currency of the Raj of Sarawak from 1858 to 1953. It was subdivided into 100 ''cents''. The dollar remained at par with the Straits dollar and its successor the Malayan dollar, the currency of Malaya and Singapore, from its ...

, replacing them at par. 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. The currency was also being used in the

Riau Archipelago The Riau Archipelago is a ''geographic'' term (as opposed to administrative region) for the core group of islands within the Riau Islands Province in Indonesia, and located south of Singapore and east of Riau on Sumatra. Before the province of R ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

prior to 1963.

History

Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya and British Borneo

The Currency Ordinance No. 44 of 1952 of the

Crown Colony of Singapore Singapore was a British colony for 144 years, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945 during the Pacific War. When the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945, at the end of World War II, Singa ...

, No. 33 of 1951 of the Federation of Malaya, No. 10 of 1951 of North Borneo and No. 1 of 1951 of

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 British Malaya and British Borneo. This agreement became effective on 1 January 1952. The Board consisted of five members: # Financial Secretary of

who was also the chairman of the Board # Minister of Finance for the Federation of Malaya # Governor of

# Governor of North Borneo # British Resident of

# and two further appointed by agreement of the participating governments.

End of common currency

On 12 June 1967, the currency union came to an end and Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei each began issuing their own currencies: the Malaysian dollar,

Singapore dollar The Singapore dollar (sign: S$; code: SGD) is the official currency of the Republic of Singapore. It is divided into 100 cents. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencie ...

and Brunei dollar. 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. The Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya and British Borneo was officially wound up on 30 November 1979.

Coins

Coins were issued in bronze 1 cent square shaped coins issued between 1953 and 1961, and circular coins of similar composition from 1962, and cupro-nickel 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents. These all shared a similar basic design depicting Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and denomination on the reverse. However, the Queen was replaced with two daggers on the smaller round cent of 1962. These coins carried the same design features and sizes from the coins of the previous Commissioner's Currency and Straits series, making them relatively unchanged in appearance except for the depictions of the British monarchs. The older coins also continued to circulate alongside these bearing the new title.

Banknotes

1953 series

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 Waterlow and Sons Limited was a major worldwide engraver of currency, postage stamps, stocks and bond certificates based in London, Watford and Dunstable in England. The company was founded as a family business in 1810. It was acquired in 1961 ...

, 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.

1959 series

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

Coins of Malaya and British BorneoGlobal Financial Data currency histories table
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Malaya And British Borneo Dollar Dollar Currencies of the Commonwealth of Nations Obsolete currencies in Malaysian history British Malaya British Borneo Economy of Brunei Modern obsolete currencies British rule in Singapore Currencies of Brunei Currencies of Malaysia Currencies of Singapore 1953 establishments in Malaya 1967 disestablishments in Malaysia Brunei–United Kingdom relations