$100 Japanese Occupation of Malaya Banknote

A complete series of Japanese Occupation of Malaya note consists of 9 denominations namely 1 cent, 5 cents, 10 cents, 50 cents, 1 dollar, 5 dollars, 10 dollars, 100 dollars and 1000 dollars. These notes bear a prefix of 'M' that represents 'Malaya'.

Unlike others denominations which only has a single design, the 100 dollars note has two different types. The common circulation notes back then was the Type 2 note (features a Malaya village) and for that reason the Type 2 (features workers tapping rubble trees) note is more difficult to obtain. The value of these two notes also varies a lot. The type 1 note is easily 10x higher that the Type 2 note.

Type 1 of 100 dollars Japanese Occupation note

Type 2 of 100 dollars Japanese Occupation note

Board of Commissioners For Currency Malaya

I believe many of us have never seen these notes before. These are two pieces of hand executed essay for the proposed of $1 meant to replace "The Government of The Straits Settlements" note circulated from 1931 to 1935. In other words, these notes are the trial design notes for the "Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya" which was issued officially on 1st July 1941.

Hand executed essay for a proposed issue for $1 Note - Type 1 (1937)

Hand executed essay for a proposed issue for $1 Note - Type 2 (1938)

Through observation of these notes, you can find the Type 1 of the hand executed note (1937)shown above is likely to adopt the design of Straits Settlements Note issued from 1931 to 1935. The blue color used for this $1 note is also similar to the Straits Settlements $1 note.

The Type 2 of the hand executed note which was produced in 1938 was the pre-design note for the Malaya Banknote. The color of this design (green color) matches the 1940 of Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya which was issued on 1st January 1940 but was unable to release to the public due to the World War II.

These notes were auctioned and sold recently in Singapore for S$20,000.00 and S$13,000.00 respectively.

The Sarawak Government Treasury - Emergency Issues

This is a rare piece of 10 Cents note printed for "The Government of Sarawak" with a date of 6.9.1945 by the printer in manuscript. It is learnt that a series of 1 Cent, 5 Cents and 10 Cents of these Sarawak notes were planned to be printed and issued after the Pacific War when the British returned to the State of Sarawak. However, the plan was terminated and resulted these notes never appear in circulation.

10 Cents of Sarawak Note that never been issued.

Note that this series of 1 Cent, 5 Cents and 10 Cents notes are all inscribed with "For the Government of Sarawak" in stead of "Treasurer of Sarawak" which appeared on all the Sarawak currency issued up to 1941.

4th Series : RM50 Replacement Note

This is a piece of 4th Series replacement note with the Prefix of ZB. Notice that this replacement note does not carry a 50th Anniversary logo at the upper right corner of the note. Thus, it is believed that this replacement note is designated to replace the mistake notes with the Prefix of AF and later.

4th Series of Malaysian Banknote - RM50 Replacement Note with Prefix ZB

Unlike the replacement note of ZA, the logo of 50th Anniversary is depicted at upper right corner of the reverse side. As discussed earlier, only the prefix of AA of these RM50 notes are with this 50th Anniversary logo. Hence, ZA replacement note is meant for the replacement to the note of prefix AA only? You can prove it otherwise if you can find a replacement note of ZA that is without the anniversary logo.

ZA Replcement note with 50th Anniversary logo depicted on the upper corner of the back side of the note.

Royal Headdress or Tengkolok Diraja

All the four series of Malaysian banknotes are depicted with the portrait of first Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Malaysia. The royal uniform of Yang Di Pertuan Agong includes the Royal Headdress or is known as Tengkolok Diraja which is also part of the Royal Regalia of Malaysia.

Portrait of the first Yang Di-Pertuan Agong with Tengkolok Diraja.

Many centuries ago, the Malay Rulers during the Malay Sultanate have been wearing the Tengkolok or the Malay headdresses as part of the royal regalia. Tengkolok is made up by embroidered silk folded in different styles. The style of folding is called solek and there are various styles depending on the tradition of the royal family of the particular states. The colour of the Tengkolok is also varies from one state to another.

The Royal Headdress or Tengkolok worn by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong during his installation is made of black fabric embroidered with gold thread. It is folded in the style called "Dendam Tak Sudah" which originated from state of Negeri Sembilan. The crescent and the 14-point stars that made from white gold together of Coat of Arms of Malaysia is placed at the middle of Tengkolok that represents the state of Malaysia.

Tengkolok of Yang Dipertuan Agong Malaysia