Malayan dollar
Encyclopedia
The dollar was the currency of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 colonies and protectorates in Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

 and Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

 until 1953. It was introduced in 1939, replacing the Straits dollar
Straits dollar
The Straits dollar was the currency of the Straits Settlements from 1904 until 1939. At the same time, it was also used in the Federated Malay States, the Unfederated Malay States, Sarawak, Brunei, and British North Borneo.-History:...

 at par, with 1 dollar = two shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...

s four pence
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...

 sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

 (60 dollars = 7 pounds).

Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya formed

The Malayan dollar was issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya, with a hiatus during the Japanese occupation (1942–1945).

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 Malay States, including Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

, and the Straits Settlements
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...

 should be entrusted to a pan-Malayan Currency Commission. Sir Basil Blackett
Basil Blackett
Sir Basil Phillott Blackett KCB KCSI was a British Civil Servant and expert on international finance.Blackett was the eldest son of Rev. William Blackett, a missionary and educationalist in India and his wife Grace Phillott. He was born in Calcutta and educated at Marlborough College...

 was appointed in 1933 by the Secretary of State for the Colonies
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....

 to lead a commission to consider the participation of the various Malay States, including Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

, in the profits and liabilities of the Straits Settlements
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...

 currency. The Blackett Report was adopted by the Government of the Straits Settlements
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...

, the Federated Malay States
Federated Malay States
The Federated Malay States was a federation of four protected states in the Malay Peninsula—Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang—established by the British government in 1895, which lasted until 1946, when they, together with the Straits Settlements and the Unfederated Malay...

, Unfederated Malay States
Unfederated Malay States
The term Unfederated Malay States was the collective name given to five British protected states in the Malay peninsula in the first half of the twentieth century. These states were Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu...

 and Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

. Legislation was enacted by the Straits Settlements Currency Ordinance (No. 23) of 1938, and ratified by the various states during 1939. The board started to issue currency in 1939.

In 1952 the board was renamed the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo. See Malaya and British Borneo dollar
Malaya and British Borneo dollar
The Malaya and British Borneo dollar 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...

.

Currencies issued

Banknotes in denominations of 1, 5 and 10 dollar notes were printed in the U.K. 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 seized by the Germans when one of their raiders captured the SS Automedon
SS Automedon
The SS Automedon was a passenger and cargo steamer which was shelled and sunk on 11 November 1940 during World War II by the German surface raider Atlantis...

; and further 500,000 one dollar notes and 100,000 five dollar notes were lost when the carrying ship, the SS Eumanes, was sunk. As such, none of these notes were ever put into circulation by the Straits Settlement Government. Only the 10 dollars were issued for use in Malaya.

Japanese Occupation

During the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese government-issue dollar replaced the Malayan dollar as legal tender.

At the time of Japanese invasion, stocks of dollar notes were still held in treasury vaults in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

. 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
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, 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
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 for safety. When British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 forces reoccupied Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 in September 1945, they found all the abandoned notes of this series, except for a bundle of one thousand of the notes captured in Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

, 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 are no evidence that these notes ever reaching Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

. All the notes were signed by L.G. Corney, the Chairman of the Board of the Commissioners of Currency.

British Military Administration

British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 forces landed at Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

 on 3 September 1945 and at Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 on 5 September 1945 and gradually reoccupied the whole Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

. 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
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...

 to the account of the Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya.

It was decided that no value whatever should be accorded the Japanese banana money
Banana money
The Japanese government-issued dollar was a form of currency issued by Imperial Japan during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Brunei between 1942 and 1945...

 then in circulation, as it had been estimated that during the three and a half years occupation the Japanese had issued a minimum of 4,000 million dollars worth of currency against a normal 1941 circulation of about 220 million (Donnison p.223). The pay service made available currency notes from 1 cent to 10,000 dollars which had been printed in Britain either before, or during, the occupation but had not previously been sent to Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

. In addition, the 1940 ten dollar note issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya and the old Straits Settlements
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...

 notes, with the exception of denominations of 1,000 or 10,000 dollars and 10 and 25 cents, were declared legal tender. These old notes were gradually withdrawn, however, as the new issue became adequate for the country's needs.

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 for the Currency Board was H. Weisberg. The emergency issues of 10 cents with King George VI as the portrait was issued on 15 August 1940, designed and printed by the Survey Department (F.M.S.) in Kuala Lumpur with the controlled serial number. On 1 September 1940, also an emergency issues of 25 cents was designed and printed by the Survey Department with King George VI as the portrait. On 1 July 1941, a set of new regular issues, with the denomination of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents was printed by Thomas de la Rue & Co. Ltd.
De La Rue
De La Rue plc is a British security printing, papermaking and cash handling systems company headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire. It also has a factory on the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, and other facilities at Loughton, Essex and Bathford, Somerset...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 with the portrait of King George VI. Also on the same date of 1 July 1941, the 1, 5 and 10 dollar notes were engraved and printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd., London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and the higher denomination of 50, 100, 1000 and 10,000 dollar notes were printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd.
Bradbury Wilkinson
Bradbury Wilkinson & Co were an English engraver and printer of banknotes, postage stamps and share certificates. The original company was begun in 1856 by Henry Bradbury . In 1861 the company was established at New Malden in Surrey where it remained until the 1986 when it was acquired by De La Rue...

, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Civil Administration

Civil administration was restored on the 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
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and Ordinance No.5 of 1946 in the Malayan Union
Malayan Union
The Malayan Union was a federation of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government so as to simplify administration. The Malayan Union later became the independent...

. The Board continued to operate in the same way as before the Japanese occupation
Japanese occupation of Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak
Throughout much of World War II, British Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak were under Japanese occupation.The Japanese Empire commenced the Pacific War with the invasion of Kota Bahru in Kelantan on 8 December 1941 at 00:25, about 90 minutes before the Attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii at 07:48 on 7...

.

All notes bearing dates prior to 1 July 1941, were demonetized on 31 August 1948.

Coins

Coins were issued between 1939 and 1950 in denominations of ½ and 1 cent (square, bronze), 5, 10 and 20 cents (silver until 1945, cupro-nickel from 1948).

Banknotes

Banknotes in denominations of 1, 5 and 10 dollar were printed in the U.K. for circulation in Malaya in 1940. However, because a shipload of 1 and 5 dollar notes were captured by German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 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
Thomas de la Rue
Thomas de la Rue was a printer from Guernsey who, from modest beginnings, founded De La Rue plc, a printing company which is now the world's largest commercial security printer and papermaker.-Biography:...

 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, 1000 and 10,000 dollars.
Cent Note
Image Value Main Colour Description Date of issue 1 cents purple/orange King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

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,
Federated Malay States
Federated Malay States
The Federated Malay States was a federation of four protected states in the Malay Peninsula—Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang—established by the British government in 1895, which lasted until 1946, when they, together with the Straits Settlements and the Unfederated Malay...

10 cents Blue/pink blank 1941 Thomas De La Rue
20 cents brown/orange Coat of arms
State emblem of Malaysia
In addition to their own state flags and anthems, each 13 of Malaysia's states has its own emblems, consisting of a state animal and a state plant.-See also:* List of Malaysian flags* List of Malaysian coats of arms...

 of the Federated Malay States
Federated Malay States
The Federated Malay States was a federation of four protected states in the Malay Peninsula—Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang—established by the British government in 1895, which lasted until 1946, when they, together with the Straits Settlements and the Unfederated Malay...

 (left), the Straits Settlements (centre top), and the Unfederated Malay States
Unfederated Malay States
The term Unfederated Malay States was the collective name given to five British protected states in the Malay peninsula in the first half of the twentieth century. These states were Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu...

 and Brunei (right).
1940 Thomas De La Rue
25 cents green/orange 1941 Survey Department,
Federated Malay States
Federated Malay States
The Federated Malay States was a federation of four protected states in the Malay Peninsula—Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang—established by the British government in 1895, which lasted until 1946, when they, together with the Straits Settlements and the Unfederated Malay...

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
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

Coat of arms
State emblem of Malaysia
In addition to their own state flags and anthems, each 13 of Malaysia's states has its own emblems, consisting of a state animal and a state plant.-See also:* List of Malaysian flags* List of Malaysian coats of arms...

 of the Federated Malay States
Federated Malay States
The Federated Malay States was a federation of four protected states in the Malay Peninsula—Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang—established by the British government in 1895, which lasted until 1946, when they, together with the Straits Settlements and the Unfederated Malay...

 (left), the Straits Settlements (centre top), and the Unfederated Malay States
Unfederated Malay States
The term Unfederated Malay States was the collective name given to five British protected states in the Malay peninsula in the first half of the twentieth century. These states were Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu...

 and 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
$10000 green/light brown 1941

External links

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