1 Ringgit - Agong XIII 50 years Bank Negara Malaysia

Bank Negara Malaysia was established in January 1959, making this 2009 issue a fiftieth-anniversary commemorative tied to a specific institutional milestone rather than a general circulation piece. Nordic gold — a copper-aluminum-zinc-tin alloy developed in the early 1990s — was adopted across numerous commemorative programs precisely because its golden appearance photographs well and resists tarnishing without the cost or regulatory complications of actual gold content.

The thirteenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Mizan Zainal Abidin, was the reigning monarch at time of issue, having ascended in 2006.