Malayan dollar
The Malayan dollar (
History
Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya formed
The Malayan dollar was issued by the
The Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya, came into being in October 1938 following the Blackett Report which recommended that the sole power of issuing currency for the various
In 1952 the board was renamed the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo. See Malaya and British Borneo dollar.
Currencies issued
Banknotes in denominations of 1, 5 and 10-dollar notes were printed in the UK for circulation in Malaya in 1940. However, out of 27,000,000 one dollar notes and 5,600,000 five-dollar notes of the same series despatched to Malaya before the Japanese invasion; 25,800,000 one dollar notes and 5,000,000 five-dollar notes arrived. Of the remainder, 700,000 one dollar notes and 500,000 five-dollar notes were lost when the SS Automedon was captured and then scuttled on 11 November 1940, by the German raider Atlantis in the Indian Ocean approach to the Malacca Straits; and further 500,000 one dollar notes and 100,000 five-dollar notes were lost when the carrying ship, the SS Eumanes, was sunk.
None of these notes were ever put into circulation by the Straits Settlements Government. Only the 10-dollar notes were issued for use in Malaya in March 1941.[2]
Japanese Occupation
During the
At the time of Japanese invasion, stocks of dollar notes were still held in treasury vaults in Singapore and Penang. When Penang was evacuated in December 1941, 600,000 one-dollar notes and 100,000 five-dollar notes were abandoned in the treasury, where they fell into the hands of the Japanese. In Singapore, 4,200,000 one-dollar and 1,000,000 five-dollar notes were destroyed, and 21,000,000 one-dollar notes and 3,900,000 five-dollar notes shipped to India for safety. When British forces reoccupied Singapore in September 1945, they found all the abandoned notes of this series, except for a bundle of one thousand dollar notes captured in Penang, in the vaults of the Japanese sub-treasury.
Nevertheless, all stocks were destroyed in 1946, as it was feared that the notes from the captured ship might have been handed over by the Germans to their Japanese allies, and were being hoarded in bulk, ready to be passed into circulation when the notes became current. There is no evidence that these notes ever reaching Malaya. All the notes were signed by L. G. Corney, the chairman of the board of the Commissioners of Currency.
British Military Administration
British forces landed at Penang on 3 September 1945 and at Singapore on 5 September 1945 and gradually reoccupied the whole Malaya. Until 1 April 1946, the country's finances were administrated by the department of the Controller of Finance and Accounts of the Army Pay Corps, and currency was put into circulation against payment in sterling by the War Office to the account of the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya.
It was decided that no value whatever should be accorded the Japanese
The notes of this series from 1 cent to 10 dollars were dated 1 July 1941, those of 50, 100 and 1,000 dollars 1 January 1942, while the 10,000-dollar notes were signed and dated on the day of their issue. The chairman of the Currency Board was H. Weisberg. The emergency issues of 10 cents with
Civil Administration
Civil administration was restored on 1 April 1946 and from the same date the Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya was reconstituted by the authority or Ordinance No.4 of 1946 in Singapore and Ordinance No.5 of 1946 in the
All notes bearing dates prior to 1 July 1941, were de-monetised on 31 August 1948.
Coins
Coins were issued between 1939 and 1950 in denominations of square shaped 1⁄2 and 1 cent in bronze, and round 5, 10 and 20 cents (silver until 1945, and cupro-nickel from 1948).[
Banknotes
Banknotes in denominations of 1, 5 and 10-dollar were printed in the UK for circulation in Malaya in 1940. However, because a shipload of 1 and 5-dollar notes were captured by German forces, only the 10 dollars were issued (see History section above). Because of the war in Europe, the Survey Department printed 10 and 25 cents for circulation. These were replaced in 1941 by notes printed by Thomas de la Rue in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents.
When the British regained control of Malaya after World War II, notes were issued in 1945 (dated 1941), in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 1,000 and 10,000 dollars.
Cent Note | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Image | Value | Main colour | Description | Date of issue | Printed | ||
Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | ||||
Blank | 1 cent | purple/orange | King George VI
|
blank | 1941 | Thomas De La Rue | |
5 cents | red/green | blank | 1941 | Thomas De La Rue | |||
10 cents | dark blue/pink/brown | blank | 1940 | Survey Department, | |||
10 cents | Blue/pink | blank | 1941 | Thomas De La Rue | |||
20 cents | brown/orange | Brunei (right).
|
1941 | Thomas De La Rue | |||
25 cents | green/orange | 1940 | Survey Department, | ||||
50 cents | purple/orange | 1941 | Thomas De La Rue |
Malayan Dollar | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Image | Value | Main colour | Description | Date of issue | ||
Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | |||
$1 | green | King George VI
|
Brunei (right).
|
1940 | ||
$1 | Blue | 1941 | ||||
$5 | blue | 1940 | ||||
$5 | Green/yellow | 1941 | ||||
$10 | purple | 1940 | ||||
$10 | Red | 1941 | ||||
$50 | Blue/mauve | 1941 | ||||
$100 | red/green | 1941 | ||||
$1000 | blue/purple | 1941 | ||||
$10,000 | green/light brown | 1941 |
See also
References
- ^ "History of Money in Malaysia". Bank Negara Malaysia. 2010. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "Malaya". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com.
Further reading
- Pick, Albert (1996). ISBN 0-87341-469-1.
- Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (2003). 2004 ISBN 0873495934.
External links
Preceded by: Straits dollar Ratio: at par, or 60 dollars = 7 British pounds |
Currency of Straits Settlements, Brunei 1939 – 1942 |
Succeeded by: Ratio: at par Note: The Japanese allowed the Malayan dollar to circulate. But they were in practice hoarded as a more reliable store of value. |
Preceded by: Japanese government-issued dollar Location: present day Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Reason: Japan lost World War II Ratio: The occupation currency became worthless. The value of the pre-occupation currency was restored. |
Currency of Straits Settlements September 1945 – 31 March 1946 |
Currency of Malaya, Singapore 1946 – 1953 |
Succeeded by: Malaya and British Borneo dollar Reason: creation of a common Board of Commissioners of Currency Ratio: at par, or 60 dollars = 7 British pounds |
Currency of Brunei 1945 – 1953 |