History of Coinage and Paper Currency of Malaya and British Borneo(1952-1962)

Posted by slang on February 20, 2010

Refer earlier to the history of coinage and paper currency of Malaya.

The Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo issued the coinage of Malaya and British Borneo. These coins were used by British North Borneo(inclusive of Labuan),Sarawak, Malaya and Singapore.

The Federation of Malaya became an independent nation on 31st August 1957. The Bank Negara Tanah Melayu was established in January 1959 with the sole right of issuing coins and bank notes in Malaya which was however temporarily suspended to avoid any misunderstanding with Singapore and the Borneo Territories.

The coinage for Malaya an British Borneo bears the effigy of  Queen Elizabeth II.

The coins were minted at the following mints:

• The Royal Mint London-no mintmark
• King’s Norton Metal Co., Birmingham England- KN mintmark
• The Mint, Birmingham Ltd., England-H mintmark.

Note the following DIE VARIETIES in the coins of:

• 50 cents 1954,1958 and 1961 which are WITHOUT ANY SECURITY EDGE ( freaks) – more expensive than one with security edge

Note that the following has PROOF coins issued as silver proofs in Royal Mint case:-

• 5 cents 1953,
• 10 cents 1953;
• 20 cents 1954;
• 50 cents 1954

There were only 4 sets known to have been struck in silver as Proofs for presentation purposes.

History of Coinage and Paper Currency of Malaya(1939-1952)

Posted by slang on

From 1933 to 1938, the question of Malayan currency was under review by a commissioner, Sir Basil P. Blackett, appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The reason for this was the continuous agitation by the Federated Malay States(FMS) ( Perak, Selangor, Pahang and Negri Sembilan) for a share of the profits arising from the Straits Settlements currency note issues.

In 1938 the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya came into being and started to issue currency in 1939. The obverse had the inscription “George I King and Emperor of India” but after the India independence Act1947, the British Parliament assented to the omission of “Emperor of Indi” from the Royal Style and Titles. Hence, the coin issus from Malaya from 1948 to 1950 were lettered to read ” King George The Sixth” on the obverse

On 8 th December 1941, the Japanese attacked Malaya and started issuing their “Banana Money.” No coins were issue during the Japanese occupation. The Japanese surrendered on 12 th September 1945, and Malaya came under the rule of the British Military Administration until January 1946 when the Malayan Union(FMS +Unfederated States(Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu and Johore) and the Settlements of Penang and Malacca was formed. This proved to be very unpopular and on 1st February 1948, the Federation of Malaya came into beng.

As a result of the transfer of Sarawak, British North Borneo and Labuan to the Colonial Office, the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya ceased to exist. On 1st January 1952, the Board of Commissioner of Currenc, Malaya and British Borneo came into being.

All coins for Malaya were minted at the Royal Mint London, except for the coins with the “i” mint mark which were minted at the Calcutta mint (for 1941) and the Bombay mint(for 1945), India.

The coinage for Malaya bears the effigy of King George the Sixth 1936-1952

Rare Coins And Scarce Coins Of Hong Kong Regal Coinage

Posted by slang on September 16, 2009

Generally, many coin collectors would presume that the rare coins of Hong Kong would come from the Queen Victoria half-dollar minted prior to 1885 and scarce coins from all silver coins of the 1870’s (except 1876) and the ten cents of 1863 to 1865.

However, extracted from Hong Kong Art and Collectibles Club ,in turn the information is from a handbook entitled “Regal Coinage of Hong Kong” published by Hong Kong Museum of History, the following are some of the rare coins of Hong Kong:-

RARE COINS DURING THE QUEEN VICTORIA REIGN:

Hong Kong-Rare Coins From Qn Victoria Reign

Victoria one mil 1864 &  Victoria ten cents 1864

• Both coins are exceedingly rare and were never apparently issued in the Colony even published mintage figure for both coins is large. Probably a few pieces were struck from dies prepared for 1864, but official reports show that no Hong Kong coins were ordered for that year.

Victoria half-dollar 1867

• The combined mintage for the half-dollars of 1866/67 is given as less than sixty thousand. From the numbers apparently extant today it is estimated that the ratio of these bearing the date 1867 was probably not more than one in twenty-five, and possibly considerably less.

Victoria twenty cents 1879

• With a mintage of only twenty four thousand this is undoubtedly the ‘key’ date in the twenty cent series. Up to the present time only specimens in worn condition have been found in local collections.

Victoria twenty cents 1881

• Although the twenty cent coins of 1880 and 1881 were apparently struck in equal quantities (twenty five thousand), that of 1881 is much the scarcer of the two. There is no obvious reason for this, but the example points to the fallibility of placing too much trust in published figures, when attempting to evaluate rarity.

RARE COINS DURING THE KING EDWARD VII:

Edward VII ten cents 1905

• Though the published mintage figures for this issue exceed thirty three million, this coin was apparently never circulated in the Colony. However, a few specimens have appeared but only in overseas market over the past ten years.

Edward VII twenty cents 1905

• According to mintage figures this date should be about three times as common as either 1902 or 1904, however, only around twenty coins of 1905 have been located. This leads one to the conclusion that these coins were for some reason only issued in very small quantities. The marked rarity of the ten cent coin of this date lends support to this theory.

RARE COINS DURING THE KING GEORGE VI:

Rare Hong Kong coin-King George VI 1941 One(1) Cent

George VI one cent 1941

• Two separate consignments of these coins left the United Kingdom by ship towards the end of 1941. One shipment is reported to have been recalled en route, whilst the fate of the other is not known. Recently, however, a few of these coins have come to light from Japanese sources, so that it now seems reasonable to assume that the second consignment fell into the hands of the Japanese, who, following their practice at that time, melted the coins down for war purposes. Fortunately for collectors, a few of them apparently escaped that fate, and during the past years about a few tenths specimens have come to light.

George VI five cents 1941-H & George VI five cents 1941-KN

• Due to the war with Japan these two coins were never apparently shipped to Hong Kong for issuing. Apart from those in major museum collections, more than hundred specimens of (2) and less than twenty of (1) have been discovered in Hong Kong.