Catalog
100 Dollars - Charles Vyner Brooke
| Issuer | Government of Sarawak |
|---|---|
| Year | 1929 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE GOVERNMENT OF SARAWAK PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND AT KUCHING 100 DOLLARS 100 DOLLARS LOCAL CURRENCY FOR VALUE RECEIVED |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries the standard obligation text and denomination numerals within a decorative border, executed in multicolour guilloche work typical of early twentieth-century colonial currency issues printed by Bradbury Wilkinson. |
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| Comments |
Sarawak's 1929 currency was issued under the authority of Charles Vyner Brooke, the third and final White Rajah, whose family had ruled the territory as a personal fiefdom since James Brooke received it from the Sultan of Brunei in 1841. The Government of Sarawak operated its own currency entirely independently of British Malaya — a consequence of Sarawak's unusual status as a crown protectorate administered by a private dynasty rather than a colonial office.
Bradbury, Wilkinson produced the series to a high security standard, as they did for numerous colonial governments in this period. The 100-dollar denomination would have seen very limited hand-to-hand use in a territory whose economy ran largely on trade in rubber, sago, and pepper.
Vyner Brooke ceded Sarawak to the British Crown in 1946, ending the Brooke dynasty and rendering all currency issued in his name obsolete within a few years.