Sarawak Banknotes

Sarawak dollar was the currency of Sarawak from 1858 to 1953.  The dollar remained at par with the Straits dollar and its successor the Malayan dollar.  Both Sarawak dollar and Malayan dollar were replaced by the Malaya and British Borneo dollar in 1953.

James Brooke 

( 18aug1842 – 11Jun1868 )

 

1862-1863

Charles Brooke

 ( 3Aug1868 – 17May1917 )

1897-1917

Charles Vyner Brooke 

( 24May1917 – 1Jul1946 )

1919

1.7.1919

1929-1940

1940

British Crown Colony

1946-1963

1945 Proof

Sarawak Banknotes 1945 Proof

  
The Brookes had ruled Sarawak for 100 years prior to its falling to the Japanese in 1942. The last of White Rajahs, Charles Vyner Brooke, recognized he lacked the resources to rebuild his shattered country. He opted to cede Sarawak to Britain as a Crown Colony.
 
Brooke had minted no coins nor had he any notes printed that might be circulated once the Japanese had been expelled. When Britain became aware of Brooke’s intent to cede, they ensured a supply of emergency currency would be available for their new colony in the same manner they were doing for Malaya.
 
Accordingly, a series of 1 Cent, 5 Cent, and 10 Cents notes where being prepared for Sarawak during the final days of the Pacific war. These could be quickly and inexpensively printed and shipped to Sarawak after approval. However, it is likely that they were never printed in quantity for circulation, and it is clear that none of these could have been issued
 
Essentially, these are specimen proofs if not trials.   None were ever issued.

 
The design of each of the 1945 notes is similar in some respects to Sarawak’s pre-1942 issues. Each names the issuer as THE GOVERNMENT OF SARAWAK as do those pre-1942 issues but the 1945 notes lack any provision to be signed by TREASURER OF SARAWAK. Rather.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Malaya Old Currency : 1939-1953 Malayan Dollar ( King George VI )

Brief History

The Malayan dollar was the currency of the British colonies and protectorates in Malaya and Brunei from 1939 until 1953.

The Malayan dollar was issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya.  

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, and the Straits Settlements should be entrusted to a pan-Malayan Currency Commission.

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

Coinage History

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

These all had the same designs and appearance of previous Straits Settlements coinage, which they replaced. The 1¢ coins were reduced in size in 1943 due to cost and wartime materials shortages while the ​½¢ were discontinued after 1940, even though they continued to be legal tender. All coins of this series depict King George VI. Older Straits coinage also continued to circulate alongside though silver pieces of both types quickly began to disappear.

Coins

King George V

“George VI, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith”

“George VI, Dei Gratia Magnae Britanniae, Hiberniae et terrarum transmarinarum quae in ditione sunt Britannica Rex, Fidei Defensor”

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth.

½¢	1¢	5¢	10¢	20¢
1940	1939-1941	1939-1941	1939-1941	1949
Bronze	Bronze	Silver 0.75	Silver 0.75	Silver 0.75
2.91g	5.83g	1.36g	2.71g	5.43g
18.5mm	21.5mm	16.0mm	18.0mm	23.2mm
		1943-1945	1943-1945	1943-1945
		Silver 0.50	Silver 0.50	Silver 0.50
		1.41g	2.71g	5.43g
		16.2mm	18.0mm	23.2mm
		1948-1950	1948-1950	1948-1950
		Cu-Ni	Cu-Ni	Cu-Ni
		1.41g	2.82g	5.65g
		16.2mm	19.5mm	23.5mm

	½¢	1¢	5¢	10¢	20¢
1939
1940		√
1941		√
1942
1943		√
1944
1945		√
1946
1947
1948			√	√
1949
1950				√