The front of a 1 Malayan dollar note, 1941.

The dollar (Engliah, Malay: ringgit, Jawi: ريڠڬيت) 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 four pence sterling (60 dollars = 7 pounds).

History

The Malayan dollar was issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya, with a hiatus during the Japanese occupation (1942–1945). During this period, paper money was issued in denominations in cents and dollars. This currency was fixed at 1 dollar = 1 Japanese yen, compared to a 1:2 pre-war rate. Following the war, the Japanese occupation currency was declared worthless and the previous issues of the Malayan dollar regained their value relative to sterling.

In 1952 the board was renamed the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo. The Board began issuing banknotes in 1953. See Malaya and British Borneo dollar.

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

A subset of the Japanese occupation currency, known colloquially as Banana money

1, 5 and 10 dollars notes were printed in the U.K. for circulation in Malaya in 1940. However, because a shipload of 1 and 5 dollars notes were captured by German forces, only the 10 dollars were issued. 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.

During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese government issued notes for 1, 5, 10 and 50 cents, 1, 5 and 10 dollars in 1942, followed by 100 dollars in 1944 and 1000 dollars in 1945. This currency was known colloquially as Banana money, a reference to the bananas shown on the $10 bill, and possibly also a scornful reference to Banana republics.

After the British regained control of Malaya, 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	Printed
Obverse	Reverse			Obverse	Reverse
	blank	1 cents	purple/orange	King George VI	blank	1941	Thomas De La Rue
	blank	5 cents	red/green		blank	1941	Thomas De La Rue
	blank	10 cents	dark blue/pink/brown		blank	1940	Survey Department, Federated Malay States
	blank	10 cents	Blue/pink		blank	1941	Thomas De La Rue
		20 cents	brown/orange		Coat of arms of the Federated Malay States (left), the Straits Settlements (centre top), and the Unfederated Malay States and Brunei (right).	1940	Thomas De La Rue
		25 cents	green/orange			1941	Survey Department, Federated Malay States
		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	Coat of arms of the Federated Malay States (left), the Straits Settlements (centre top), and the Unfederated Malay States 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

See also

• British North Borneo dollar
• Sarawak dollar

References

External links

• Don's World Coin Gallery - Malaya
• Tables of Modern Monetary Systems by Kurt Schuler - Malaya ^{Mirror site}
• The Global History of Currencies - Malaya
• Global Financial Data currency histories table ( Microsoft Excel format)