Malaya and British Borneo dollar: Difference between revisions

The Malaya and British Borneo dollar was the currency of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo and Brunei from 1953 to 1967. Malaya continued to use this currency after independence in 1957 and the formation of Malaysia in 1963, as did Singapore after its independence in 1965.

The Malayan and British Borneo dollar was issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo. It was subdivided into 100 cents and replaced the Sarawak dollar, British North Borneo dollar and Malayan dollar (also used in Singapore and Brunei) at par. Like its predecessor, it was pegged at one dollar to 2 shillings 4 pence sterling.

In 1967, the Malaya and British Borneo dollar was replaced by three new currencies: the Malaysian ringgit, the Singapore dollar and the Brunei dollar, all at par. The Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo, was finally wound up in 1979.

When the pound sterling was devalued in November 1967, existing Malaya and British Borneo dollar banknotes (pegged at 2s. 4d.) lost 15% of their value, but continued to be legal tender until 1969, at the reduced value of 85 Malaysian cents per old dollar. Notes issued in the new currencies were not devalued. This led to a general strike, or hartal, and riots in Penang.

The symbol of the Malaya and British Borneo dollar was $.

Throughout its lifetime, the Malayan and British North Bornean dollar had remained pegged with the British pound at 2s. 4d. ($60 = £7).

Coins were available in 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents.

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All this 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 dollars notes were printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd., the 50 and 100 dollars notes were printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd. and the 1,000 and 10,000 dollars 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.

First Type of $1 Note

Although these notes bear the date 1 March 1959, they were not released to the public until 1 June 1959. They were printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd., on paper that corporated a broken gold security thread on the right and a Malayan tiger's head watermark in centre.

Second Type of $1 Note

It was exactly similar in design and bore the same date, but the colour varied slightly from the first issue. By the Malaya and British Borneo Currency Agreement of 1960, which came into force on 1 January 1961, the Federation of Malayawas given increased representation on the Currency Board. it was agreed that the Federation should nominate two members, one of whom would be the Chairman; and the other four participating governments. The Federation of Malaya and Singapore representatives had 3 votes each, and each of the other members had one vote. Under the new agreement, the powers previously exercised by the British Secretary of State for the Colonies were vested in the newly constituted Board.

The next note, although it was dated 1 march 1961, but not put into circulation until 28 August 1961. It was printed by Thomas de la Rue & Co. Ltd.,and for the first time incorporated 2 security threads; one the normal broken gold thread slightly to the right of centre of the note, and the other a line of unbroken metallic thread closer to the right hand edge. the two security threads were set about 1¼ inches apart from each other.

Note that this coloring theme still live on in today's three successor currencies.

• Global Financial Data currency histories table
• Tables of modern monetary history: Asia