To avoid confusion, Officially, Malaysia only has 4 series banknotes based on the overall design. For those of us who are collectors or dealers, Malaysia has 12 Series of banknotes based on minor changes.
Today I will be focusing on the banknote issue during the 1967 to 1983 period. During this period, the banknote undergoes 4 minor changes, so to colletor, the banknote during this period is 1st, 2nd,3rd, and 4th Series.
Bank Negara Malaysia began issuing currency notes in June 1967. These banknotes were in five denominations: $1, $5, $10, $50 and $100. A $1,000 denomination note was issued on 2 September 1968.
The basic design of these banknotes was common across all denominations. The obverse depicted a portrait of His Majesty the first King, together with the words Bank Negara Malaysia. The word legal tender, the face value, and the signature of the Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia appeared on the obverse of these banknotes. The reverse had the Bank Negara Malaysia logo, with a background of geometrical designs.
The banknotes’ security features included a tiger’s head watermark on the left and a security thread on the right.
With the official implementation of the new spelling system for Bahasa Malaysia (the national language of Malaysia) on 16 August 1972, Bank Negara Malaysia began using the new spelling system in the printing of its banknotes but retained the existing designs.
The changes in spelling happen on the 2nd Series were as follows:-
Currency
Denomination Old Spelling New Spelling
$1 hingga $1,000 GABENUR GABENOR (Governor)
DI-PERLAKUKAN DIPERLAKUKAN (tender)
$10 SA-PULOH SEPULUH (ten)
$50 LIMA PULOH LIMA PULUH (fifty)
$100 SA-RATUS SERATUS (one hundred)
$1000 SA-RIBU SERIBU (one thousand)
In 1967, the banknotes signature is Tun Ismail bin Mohamed Ali, the First Governor of Bank Negara.
Later in early 1982, banknotes in denominations of $1, $5, $10, $50, $100 and $1000 were issued with the signatures of the second Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz bin Haji Taha.
