Catalog
1 Dollar - George VI
| Issuer | Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
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| Printer | Waterlow & Sons Limited, United Kingdom (1810-1961) |
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| Obverse description | Blue intaglio print over orange and multicolor guilloche underprint. A formal facing portrait of King George VI is positioned at right, rendered in fine engraved detail. The note carries the full authority legend of the Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya, with the issue date 1st July 1941, the chairman's signature, and the printer's imprint of Waterlow & Sons Limited, London. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Malayan dollar series of 1941 was already in production when Japan invaded in December of that year. Waterlow & Sons completed printing in London, but distribution across the peninsula was overtaken by events — significant quantities never reached circulation before the fall of Singapore in February 1942. The Japanese occupation introduced the "banana money" military scrip that effectively displaced the entire pre-war currency infrastructure.
Notes from this issue that did survive the occupation often did so in hoards rather than through active use, which partly accounts for the range of conditions encountered today. The Board of Commissioners of Currency itself was a joint Malayan authority established in 1938, replacing the separate issuing arrangements of the individual Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States.