Timeline

• around 1787
• Issuance of silver coins of ½, ¼, ⅒ Spanish Dollar by the Calcutta Mint for the Penang (Prince of Wales Island) settlement
• 1805-1813
• Issuance of emergency tokens of 1 Cent to the Spanish Dollar for the Penang settlement, made of tin by local manufacturers to overcome small change shortage
  - First batch authorized around by Governor Robert T. Farquhar,
  - Second batch authorized by government officials (George Leith, James Anderson, and William A. Clubley) in a government notice of 22.03.1809,
  - The tin tokens were demonetized in 1813.
• 1810-1828
• Issuance of copper subsidiary coins of 2, 1, ½ Cent (Pice) to the Spanish Dollar for the Penang settlement, made by the British Royal Mint (1810) and Madras Mint (1825-1825)
• 20.04.1826
• Government resolution for the Penang settlement, declares the Sicca Rupee (of the East India Company's Bengal Presidency) unit of account; effective 01.05.1826:
  - Rating of the Spanish Dollar at 100 Dollars = 208⅓ Sicca Rupees (or 1 Sicca Rupee = 0.48 Spanish Dollar)
• 07.06.1826
• Government resolution for the Singapore settlement, declares the Spanish Dollar unit of account; effective immediately:
  - 27.07.1826: Government resolution for the Singapore settlement, admits the Sicca Rupee for payments at a rate of 100 Dollars = 210½ Sicca Rupees.

Timeline

• 15.01.1836
• Governor's proclamation of the Indian coinage act [No. XVII] of 17.08.1835 on the unification of the Indian coinage systems; effective 01.01.1836 (retroactive)
  - The demonetization of the Spanish trade coins could not be implemented.
• 01.05.1847
• Indian law [Copper currency (Straits Settlements) Act, No. VI] on the introduction of subsidiary coins of 1, ½, ¼ Cent to the Spanish Dollar; effective 01.01.1848
  - The issuance of the coins was already authorized by Governor's resolution of 16.05.1844.
• 29.05.1855
• Indian law [Copper currency (Straits Settlements) Act, No. XVII] on the introduction of Indian subsidiary coins at a rate of 1 Spanish Dollar = 140 Indian Pice (= 2³⁄₁₆ Indian Rupees); effective immediately
  - The Indian coins were not put into circulation due to protest by the local population.
• 26.10.1862
• Government's resolution on the issuance of subsidiary coins of 1, ½, ¼ Cent to the Spanish Dollar; effective immediately

Timeline

• 01.04.1867
• Law [Legal Tender Act, No. IV] on the introduction of a silver currency in the standard of the Spanish Dollar; effective immediately:
  - All Spanish trade coins of at least 415 English troy grains were considered at full value
  - Issuance of subsidiary coins of 20, 10, 5 Cents (silver) and 1, ½, ¼ Cent (copper) began in 1871
• 02.02.1895
• Ordinance [Straits Settlements (Coinage) Order, No. 64], declared the "Mexican Silver Dollar" to be the standard coin and the "British (Trade) Dollar" and "Hong Kong Dollar" to be additional coins at full value; effective immediately
• 02.09.1897
• Ordinance [Currency Note, No. VIII] on the establishment of a Currency Commission; effective upon othe constitution of the commission on 01.05.1899:
  - 28.02.1899: Ordinance [Currency Note, No. IV], amended the 1897 ordinance; effective 01.05.1899
• 22.09.1899
• Ordinance [Currency Note, No. XIV], granted the Currency Commission the right of veto against further private paper money issuance by commercial banks (thereby putting an end to it); effective immediately
• 25.06.1903
• Ordinance [Straits Settlements (Coinage) Order, No. 532], declared the Straits Dollar in silver to be the standard coin (substituting the "Mexican Dollar"); effective 03.10.1903
• 25.09.1903
• Ordinance [Coin Import and Export, No. XXIV], banned the import of foreign silver coins ("Mexican Dollar", "British (Trade) Dollar", "Hong Kong Dollar") and the export of silver Straits Dollars; effective 03.10.1903
• 29.01.1906
• Ordinance [Currency Note 1899 (Amendment), No. 1] on the transition to the gold exchange standard and peg to the British Pound; effective 01.03.1906:
  - 16.02.1906: Ordinance [Currency Note 1899 (Amendment II), No. 5], further amendments to the 1899 ordinance; effective 01.03.1906
  - 14.09.1906: Ordinance [Currency Note 1899 (Amendment III), No. 23], further amendments to the 1899 ordinance; effective immediately
  - 22.10.1906: Ordinance [Currency Note 1899 (Amendment IV), No. 26], further amendments to the 1899 ordinance; effective immediately
• 22.10.1906
• Ordinance [Straits Settlements (Coinage) Order], declared the British Sovereign legal tender at a rate of 60 Straits Dollars = 7 British Pounds (Straits Dollar at 28 Pence Sterling); effective immediately
• 11.02.1907
• Ordinance [Straits Settlements (Coinage) Order], reduced the weight of the Straits Dollar in silver (making it a subsidiary coin); effective 04.03.1907
• 01.08.1908
• Ordinance [Straits Settlements (Coinage) Order], demonetized the 1, ½ Straits Dollar coins in silver issued before 04.03.1907; effective 01.01.1909
• 01.08.1908
• Ordinance [Straits Settlements (Coinage) Order], demonetized the 1, ½ Straits Dollar coins in silver issued before 04.03.1907; effective 01.01.1909

Valuation Regimes

• 1867-1906
• Metallic currency based on circulating silver coins. Base weight is the English troy pound / 16 ounces / 480 grains at 373.242 grams.
• 1906-1938
• Fixed rate against British Pound

Timeline

• 29.08.1938
• Ordinance [Currency, No. 23] on the establishment of a Malayan Currency Commission for the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States (Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Pahang), the Unfederated Malay States (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu, Perlis), and Brunei; effective 21.10.1938:
  - Each of the member states passed an identical local legislation
  - Profits were to be distributed as: Straits Settlements - 37%, Federated Malay States - 36.25%, Unfederated Malay States - 26%, Brunei - 0.75%.
• 01.01.1940
• Start of issuance of the new paper money, the Straits Settlements currency was not demonetized:
  - 24.01.1940: Ordinance [Currency (Coins) Regulation 1939] on the issuance of subsidiary coins of 20, 10, 5, 1 Cents; effective immediately
  - 03.04.1940: Ordinance [Currency (Coins) Regulation 1940], amendment for subsidiary coins of ½ Cent; effective immediately
  - 27.05.1947: Ordinance [Currency (Coins) Regulation 1947] on the reduction of the silver content of the subsidiary coins of 20, 10, 5 Cents; effective immediately
  - 24.08.1948: Ordinance [Currency (Coins) Regulation 1948] on the issuance of subsidiary coins of 20, 10, 5 Cents in base metal (cupro-nickel); effective immediately
• 1942-1945
• Japanese Occupation:
  - 25.01.1942: Ordinance of the Japanese Military Command on the introduction of the Japanese military currency in the occupied territories; effective immediately. The Malayan currency was not demonetized and circulated at par with the Military Yen (corresponding to a -50.1% devaluation)
  - around 1943: Production of tin subsidiary coins of 10, 5, Cents (Sen) for the States of Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu, Perlis annexed by Thailand; the coins were not issued.
• 30.08.1945
• Ordinance [Proclamation, No. 4] of the British Military Administration, declared the pre-occupation paper moneys sole legal tender; effective immediately:
  - High-denomination notes of 10'000 and 1'000 Dollars had to be deposited and were restituted only after if their lawful possession had been established
  - The Japanese occupation notes were not mentioned, thus were invalidated without compensation.
• ??.??.1946
• Ordinance [Currency (Transitional Amendment), No. 4 of Singapore, No. 5 of the Malayan Union] on the reinstatement of the Malayan Currency Commission; effective 01.04.1946
• 21.12.1948
• Ordinance [Debtor and Creditor (Occupation Period), 1949] on the valuation of debts made in Japanese occupation currency; effective 01.04.1949:
  - Debts of 1942 were rated as 1 : 1
  - For debts between January 1943 and July 1945 a monthly rating of the occupation currency was defined, e.g. December 1943: 1 : 5.85, December 1944: 1 : 18.50, July 1945: 1 : 79.80
  - For debts of August 1945 a daily rating was defined until 12 August (1 : 950), all later agreements were declared nil.

Valuation Regimes

• 1938-1951
• Fixed rate against British Pound

Timeline

• 01.01.1952
• Malaya British Borneo Currency Agreement on extending the jurisdiction of the Malayan Currency Commission to the States of North Borneo and Sarawak on the island of Borneo. Legislated independently in the member states:
  - Singapore: Ordinance [Currency, No. 42] of 21.08.1951; effective 01.01.1952
  - Federation of Malaya: Ordinance [Currency, No. 33] of ??.??.1951; effective 01.01.1952
  - North Borneo State: Ordinance [Currency, No. 10] of ??.??.1951; effective 01.01.1952
  - Sarawak: Ordinance [Currency, No. 1] of 23.05.1951; effective 01.01.1952
  - Brunei: no local legislation (?)
  - Profits were to be distributed as: Federation of Malaya - 65%, Singapore - 29%, Sarawak - 3.25% - North Borneo - 2%, Brunei - 0.75%.
• 01.01.1952
• Start of currency exchange:
  - 01.01.1952: Start of issuance of the new currency, the Malayan paper money and coins remained current
  - 31.12.1952: Demonetization of the former currencies of the Straits Settlements and Sarawak
  - 31.08.1953: Demonetization of the former currency of the North Borneo State.

Valuation Regimes

• 1952-1967
• Fixed rate against British Pound

Timeline

• ??.??.1958
• Ordinance [Central Bank of Malaya, No. 61] on the establishment of a central bank for the Federation of Malaya and creation of the "Malaysian Dollar" as national currency; effective upon constitution of the bank on 26.01.1959 (the currency was not issued)
  - Transformed retroactively into a law [Central Bank of Malaysia (Malaya) Act, No. 519]
  - 21.01.1965: Law [Central Bank of Malaysia (Amendment and Extension) Act, No. 16] on the extension of the bank's jurisdiction to the states of Sabah und Sarawak (on the island of Borneo); effective immediately.
• 12.12.1964
• Government resolution on the withdrawal from the Malaya and British Borneo Currency Commission and on the creation of a national currency; effective 12.12.1966
  - 18.08.1966: Agreement between Malaysia and Singaport, postponed the effective date for the end of the common currency area to 12.06.1967.
• 12.06.1967
• Start of currency exchange:
  - 12.06.1967: Start of issuance of the new banknotes and coins (the currencies of Singapore and Brunei were also legal tender)
  - 16.01.1969: Demonetization of the Malaya and British Borneo currency
  22.05.1973: Termination of legal tender status of the currencies of Singapore and Brunei.
• 22.05.1973
• Termination of the agreement with Singapore and Brunei on the mutual recognition of banknotes and coins
• 21.08.1975
• Law [Currency (Ringgit) Act, No. 160] changes the currency name from "Dollar" into "Ringgit"; effective 28.08.1975:
  - This was a formality only, on banknotes and coins the denominations Ringgit and Sen have been used since the beginning.

Valuation Regimes

• 1967
• Fixed rate against British Pound, did not follow the British devaluation
• 1967-1973
• Fixed rate against US Dollar
• 1973-1998
• Variable rate
• 1998-2005
• Fixed rate against US Dollar, started during the South East Asian currency crisis
• 2005-
• Variable rate