Catalog
5 Dollars
| Issuer | Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Dollars |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in blue on white paper, the reverse is dominated by a central oval guilloche void surrounded by elaborate scrollwork and a large heraldic composition bearing the coats of arms of the Straits Settlements and the various Malay States. Eight individual state crests are arranged symmetrically around the central vignette, with Jawi inscriptions 'ليم رڠڬيت' at the upper left and upper right corners. The printer's imprint appears at the lower margin. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | the George VI portrait embedded in the paper |
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| Comments |
The Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya was established in 1897 as a joint currency authority for the Federated and Unfederated Malay States, the Straits Settlements, and later Brunei and British Borneo — a rare colonial arrangement in which a single board issued currency across multiple jurisdictions without a central bank behind it. This 1940 issue came off Waterlow & Sons' presses less than two years before the Japanese invasion of Malaya in December 1941, which meant substantial quantities of notes in the supply chain were either captured, hastily destroyed, or abandoned during the rapid British retreat.
Huckerby's tenure as Chairman coincided with that collapse. Notes surviving from this series with clean signatures and intact paper are scarcer than the pick number implies.