Malaysia Coins - 1967 First Series

Descriptions

Observe : Malaysian Houses of Parliament and the federal star and crescent moon from the canton of the Malaysian flag.  Initials of the designer, Geoffrey Colley, “GC” below the Parliament House.

Reverse : MALAYSIA, ‘Year of Mint’, ‘Value’

Technical Specifications

value	diameter	thickness	weight	composition	edge
1sen	18.0mm	1.00mm	1.95g	bronze	plain
				copper clad steel	reeded
5sen	16.0mm	1.05mm	1.42g	cupronickel	reeded
10sen	19.4mm	1.20mm	2.82g	cupronickel	reeded
20sen	23.4mm	1.50mm	5.69g	cupronickel	reeded
50sen	27.8mm	2.10mm	9.40g	cupronickel	reeded
					"Bank Negara Malaysia"
$1	33.5mm	n.a.	n.a.	cupronickel	"Bank Negara Malaysia"

year of mint	1sen	5sen	10sen	20sen	50sen	$1
1967	p	p	p	p	p
1968		p	p	p	p
1969				p	p
1970
1971		p			p	p
1972
1973	p	p	p	p	p
1974
1975
1976		p	p	p
1977			p	p	p
1978	p	p	p	p	p
1979		p	p	p	p
1980		p	p	p	p	p
1981	p	p	p	p	p
1982	p	p	p	p	p
1983	p		p		p
1984	p				p
1985	p	p			p
1986	p				p
1987	p	p		p	p
1988	p	p	p	p	p

History

Bank Negara Malaysia ( BNM ), the Malaysian Central Bank was established on the 26^th January 1959 as the Bank Negara Malaya.  On the 12^th June 1967, the BNM issued the new Malaysian dollar to replace the Malaya and British Borneo dollar at par.

Dollar is called ringgit in Malay language.  The word was originally means “jagged” in Malay referring to the serrated edges of silver Spanish dollars widely circulated during the 16^th and 17^th century.

Despite the introduction of the new currencies in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, with the Interchangeability Agreement, Malaysian dollar was exchangeable at par with Singapore dollar and Brunei dollar.  Malaysia withdrew from the agreement on 8^th May 1973, while Singapore and Brunei exited in 2009.

The first series of sent coins were introduced in 1967 in denominations of 1sen, 5sen, 10sen, 20sen and 50sen.   $1 coin was introduced in 1971.   Virtually all the coins were minted in near-consistent observe and reverse designs.   All coins were minted from cupronickel, except for the 1sen which was first composed from bronze ( 1967-1972 ), then in steel clad with copper ( 1973-1998 ).  The 50sen underwent a minor modification in 1971 where its edge to include “Bank Negara Malaysia” letterings.