Sarawak Coins - Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke

Charles Vyner Brooke succeeded his father as the 3^rd Rajah of Sarawak on 17 May 1917.  The proclamation was held on 24 May 1917 at Kuching.  He took oath before the Council Negri on 22 July 1918.

Vyner first mint Sarawak coins with his image in 1920, for both the ‘laurel’ and the ‘rope’ series in copper-nickel and silver respectively.  The 1cent coins were later minted in copper.  The production of 1cent copper coins were continued until 1941, but due to the outbreak of the war in S.E.Asia, the entire 1941 issue was recalled and subsequently melted down.  Only about 50 examples of the 1941 1cent coins are believed to be in existence.  During the Japanese occupation, the silver coins were commandeered and melted down. 

Before Sarawak fell into Japanese invasion on 25 December 1941, Vyner and his family went to Sydney, Australia.   He returned to Sarawak on 15 April 1946 and resumed as Rajah.   On 1 July 1946, Sarawak was ceded to the British as a crown colony, thus ending the Brooke Dynasty in Sarawak.

His nephew, Anthony Brooke, the Rajah Muda of Sarawak, together with the Council Negri opposed the cession.  The anti-cession movement reached its climax when the 2^nd governor to Sarawak, Sir Duncan Steward was assassinated by a Malay nationalist Rosli Dhoby in Sibu.   However, Anthony was cleared for having any connection of the assassination.  In 1951, Anthony renounce his claim to Sarawak’s claim, and lived in New Zealand where he died on 2 March 2011.

Vyner died on 9 May 1963, and buried in St. Leonard’s Church in Sheepstor, Dartmoor.

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Descriptions

Observe :

Effigy of Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke facing right and the inscription “C.V.Brooke | Rajah | SARAWAK ”

Reverse :

“Year of mint” inscribed on bottom,  ‘value’ in center encircled by a laurel wreath.  A letter “H” inscribed at middle beneath of wreath.

Technical Details

Year of mint : 1920, 1927 & 1934

	1cent	5cent	10cent
1920
1927
1934

Value :1 cent, 5 cents & 10 cents

Composition : copper-nickel

Diameter : 18.1mm, 21.2mm, 26.0mm

Weight : 2.0g, 3.7g, 5.4g

Mint : Heaton & Son, Birmingham

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Descriptions

Observe :

Effigy of Charles Vyner Brooke facing right, inscription “C. V. BROOKE” “RAJAH” at top, “SARAWAK” at bottom.

Reverse :

‘Value in numeric’ in middle, encircled by rope circle tied at bottom, ‘value in alphabets’ and ‘year of mint’ outside rope circle.  Initial “H” at bottom of tied knot.

Technical Details

Year of mint : 1920 & 1927

	5cent	10cent	20cent	50cent
1920
1927

Value : 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents

Composition : Silver

Diameter : 15.7mm, 18.0mm, 23.4mm, 32mm

Weight : 1.35g, 2.71g, 5.42g, 13.57g

Mint : Heaton & Sons, Birmingham

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Descriptions

Observe :

Effigy of Charles Vyner Brooke facing right, inscription “C. V. BROOKE” on left, “RAJAH” on right.

Reverse :

Inscription “SARAWAK” on top, “year  of mint” at bottom.  ‘Value in alphabet” in middle, encircled by laurel wreath , with initial “H” at middle bottom of wreath.

Technical Details

Year of mint : 1927 - 1941

	1/2 cent	1 cent
1927
1929
1930
1933
1937
1941

Value : ½cent & 1cent

Composition : copper

Diameter : 18mm & 24mm

Weight : 3.0g & 5.5g

Mint : Heaton & Sons, Birmingham

Sarawak Coins - Rajah Charles Brooke

Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke became the Rajah of Sarawak on 3 August 1868 succeeded his uncle James Brooke.  Charles Brooke ruled until his death on 17 May 1917.

Charles married Margaret Alice Lili de Windt at Highworth, Wiltshire on 28 October 1869.  They had 6 children : Dayang Ghita Brooke ( 1870-1973 ), James Harry Brooke ( 1872-1873 ), Charles Clayton Brooke ( 1872-1873 ), Charles Vyner Brooke ( 1874-1963 ), Bertram Willes Dayrell Brooke ( 1876-1965 ) and Henry Kepple Brooke ( 1879-1926 ).

Charles Brooke had another son, Esca Brooke, born of a native Malay woman which was unrecognized in English Law.  Esca was later adopted by Rev. William Daykin and moved to Canada.

During his reign, Sarawak issued its own postage stamp (1871), introduced civil marriage (1871), conducted its first census (1871), , founded Sarawak Rangers (1872), abolish slavery established First, Second, Third and Forth administrative Divisions (1885), became a British Protectorate (1888), established the Sarawak Museum (1891), founded Government Lay School ( later SMK Green Road ) (1903), adopted Straits Dollar (1904), discovered oil in Miri (1910), built oil refinery (1914), built railroad (1915) ... 

Charles died in 1917, and buried in St. Leonard’s Church in Sheepstor, Dartmoor.

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Descriptions

Observe :

Effigy of Rajah Charles Brooke facing left and the inscription “C.Brooke | Rajah”

Reverse :

“SARAWAK” inscribed on top, with “1863” at bottom, ‘value’ in center encircled by a laurel wreath.  A letter “H” inscribed at middle beneath of wreath for some coins.

Technical Details

Year of mint : 1870 - 1896

Value : ¼ cent, ½ cent & 1 cent

Composition : copper

Diameter : 18mm, 22mm, 29mm

Weight : 2.4g, 4.7g, 9.3g

Mint : Heaton & Son, Birmingham

value	¼ cent	½ cent		1 cent
1870
1879
1880
1882
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889					H
1890					H
1891					H
1896			H

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Descriptions

Observe :

Hole in middle, above hole is effigy of Rajah Charles Brooke facing left, below hole is crossed flags, and the inscription “C.Brooke | Rajah”

Reverse :

Within laurel wreath “ONE” above hole, “CENT” below hole,  above wreath “SARAWAK,  “year of mint” at bottom.  A letter “H” inscribed at middle beneath of wreath.

Technical Details

Year of mint : 1892, 1893, 1894, 1896, 1897

Value : 1 cent

Composition : copper

Diameter : 29.5mm

Weight : 9.2g

Mint : Heaton & Sons, Birmingham

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Descriptions

Observe :

Effigy of Charles Brooke facing left, inscription “C. BROOKE” “RAJAH” “SARAWAK”

Reverse :

‘value in numeric’ in middle, encircled by rope circle tied at bottom, ‘value in alphabets’ and ‘year of mint’ outside rope circle.  Initial “H” at bottom of tied knot.

Technical Details

Year of mint : 1900 - 1915

Value : 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents

Composition : 0.008 Silver

Diameter : 15.7mm, 18.0mm, 23.4mm, 32mm

Weight : 1.35g, 2.71g, 5.42g, 13.57g

Mint : Heaton & Sons, Birmingham

	5 cents	10 cents	20 cents	50 cents
1900
1906
1908
1910
1911
1913
1915

Sarawak Coins - Rajah James Brooke

Descriptions

Observe :

Effigy of Rajah James Brooke facing left and the inscription “J.Brooke | Rajah”

Reverse :

“SARAWAK” inscribed on top, with “1863” at bottom, ‘value’ in center encircled by a wreath.

Technical Details

Year of mint : 1863 - 1868

Value : ¼ cent, ½ cent & 1 cent

Composition : copper, copper, bronze-plated copper

Diameter : 18mm, 23mm, 29.5mm
Weight : 2.29g, 4.65g, 9.57g

History

James Brooke was granted the title of Rajah of Sarawak on 24 September 1841.  

The official declaration was made on 18 August 1842.

During his reign, James Brooke reformed the administration, codifying laws, introduced monetary system, expanding boundary and fighting piracy.  Sarawak dollar was introduced in 1858, until it was replaced with Malaya and British Borneo dollar in 1853.  The Sarawak dollar was at par with the Straits dollar and the successive Malayan dollar.

A “1 keping” coin was minted in 1842.  But the official Sarawak coin was minted only in 1863, depicted the effigy of James Brooke, in values ¼ cent,  ½ cent and 1 cent.  The coins were originally minted from copper, latter coins were of bronze-plated copper.

James Brooked ruled Sarawak until his death in 1868.  He was buried in St. Leonard’s Church in Sheepstor, Dartmoor.  He was succeeded by Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke.

Sarawak Coin 1842 : 1 Keping

Descriptions

Observe :

A badger over inscription J.B. ( James Brooke ) | SEP 24 1841  

Reverse :

Jawi inscription ساتو كڤيڠ ( satu keping ) in the middle and  ۱۲۴۷ ( 1247 ) of the Hijri Calendar at the bottom

Technical Detail

Diameter : 21.5mm

Weight : 1.75g

Composition : Copper or Brass

Issue : 1842

Brief Introduction

This is believed to be the first coin minted by James Brooke, for 24 September 1841 was the date Sarawak ceded to Brooke, of which Brooke made the first white Rajah of Sarawak.

The first Sarawak own coin was minted by the Birmingham Mint.   The coin feature a badger facing left, with initial “J.B” ( for James Brooke ) under the badger.  At the bottom is the date “SEP 24 1841” which commemorate the date Brooke made Rajah of Sarawak.

The reverse dies were recycled from dies used to make Singapore Merchant token, ‘duit ayam’ as the local called.  Thus it is explained that the year written in Arabic " ۱۲۴۷ " 1247 ( Gregorian calendar 1831 ) is contradicting with the year "1841"  inscribed on the observe. 

Euro Coins 2014 Andora

Descriptions

Observe :

€2 and €1, 50, 20 and 10 cent show the European Union as of 1 January 2007, a geographical image of Europe.

5, 2 and 1 cent show Europe in relation to Africa and Asia on a globe.

Reverse :

1c, 2c & 5c – Pyrenean chamois ( Rupicapra pyrenaica ), a goat antelope that lives in the Pyrenees, Catabrian Mountains and Apennine Mountains.

10c, 20c & 50c – the Church of Santa Coloma and a depiction of Christ from the church  Sant Martí de la Cortinada.  ( the depiction of Christ may be removed due to the objection from the European Commission on the grounds of religious neutrality )

€1 - Casa de la Vall

€2 - Coat of arms of Andorra

Brief Introduction

Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, is a microstate in Southwestern Europe sandwiched between Spain and France at the Pyrenees mountains, having only an area of 468m² and an estimated population of 85,000 in 2012.

Andorra was created under a charter in A.D.988.   The present Principality was formed in A.D.1278.  It is known as a principality as it is a monarchy headed by two Co-Princes – the Spanish/Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell and the President of France.

Andorra did not have an official currency.  Prior to adopting the euro, Andorra used the French franc and Spanish peseta.  When the two currencies were replaced by the euro in 2002,  the euro became the de facto sole circulating currency in Andorra. 

However, Andorra is not a member of the European Union.  Yet, in 2011, a monetary agreement was sign between Andorra and the EU, allowing Andorra to mint euro coins from 2013.   As on 1 April 2012, the euro became Andorra’s official currency.

A design competition for the national side of the euro coins was launched in 2013.    The Andorra euro coins were supposed to be issued early 2014, but were delayed.

Euro Coins 2002-

Descriptions

Observe :

€2 and €1, 50c, 20c and 10c coins show either the EU15 before its enlargement on  May 2004 or, as of 1 January 2007, a geographical image of whole Europe.

5c, 2c and 1c coins depict the denomination, the words 'EURO CENT'.

Reverse :

The national sides show country-specific designs, surrounded by the 12 stars of the European Union.

Technical Specifications

  

Details

The euro was established by the provisions in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.   The name “euro” created by Belgian Germain Pirlot, was officially adopted by European Council meeting in Madrid on 16^th December 1995.

The euro was launched on 1^st January 1999, but only as an invisible currency, used for accounting purposes.  Real euro coins and banknotes was introduced on 1^st January 2002.  The euro is managed and administered by the European Central Bank ( ECB ) and the Eurosystem,

The euro is the sole currency of 18 of the 28 EU member states, including the overseas territories and islands which are either part of, or associated with euro area countries. Andorra,  Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City, although are not the EU member states, also use and mint their own euro.  Kosovo and Montenegro use euro as their de facto currency, but are not authorised to mint their own coins.

The euro coin series comprises 8 different denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent, €1 and €2. The euro coins have a common side and a national side. The national side indicates the issuing country.

The euro currency sign ( € ) was created by Belgian Alain Billiet.  Inspiration for the symbol came from the Greek letter epsilon (Є) – a reference to the cradle of European civilization – and the first letter of the word ”Europe”, crossed by two parallel lines to ‘certify’ the stability of the euro.

The common sides of the coins were designed by Mr Luc Luycx of the Royal Belgian Mint. They show images of the European Union or of Europe and symbolise the unity of the EU.  The national sides show country-specific designs, surrounded by the 12 stars of the European Union.