Show me the Money

I was musing through Wiki the other day i.e Local Heroes Rentap. I stumble onto something that I never even realize that Sarawak has it's own money!! Yes we have our own currency and it's called the Sarawak Dollar..

Yes!!

Sarawak Dollar

Its quite embarrassing for a Sarawakian like me not to know this kind of things so here, in order to help other ignorant Sarawakians to know our beloved states history, I'm gonna post about money. So,lets talk about everybody favourite topic... MONEY

$$KA-CHING$$$


Lets revisit history

Sarawak and most part of Borneo ( I think all) was under the Sultanate of Brunei. The steward or the some sort of Chief minister of Sarawak that time was this guy called Pangeran Indera Mahkota. Sarawak was in the brink of a civil war and was in utter chaos. So, the Sultan of Brunei brought in this dude called Pangeran Muda Hashim. This Pangeran Asked for help from James Brooke and the rest is history.

For 3 generations Sarawak was under the reign of the white rajah's. From James Brooke to Charles Anthoni Brooke and to Charles Vyner Brooke. It was not an easy reign especially after the Japanese occupation. The royal family was in bankruptcy and thats why they gave the Kingdom of Sarawak to the British government.

Alright, we roughly know what happen so, here's a question..
What currency did my Grandpa use during the Brooke's heyday?
This!!!
That's One Sarawakian dollar... Cool eh..If you realize there are some Jawi inscription and also some Chinese characters. Probably it's there to help the Malay and Arab traders as well as the Chinese traders.

The dollar was used from 1858 to 1953. It was subdivided to 100 cents. During that time

One Sarawak dollar = One Straits dollar

Straits dollar is the currency Malaya and Singapore uses during the British occupation.

The interesting thing bout Sarawak dollar are the coins. Have you ever heard of 1/4 of a cent or 2 1/2 of a cent!! What the!!

Customer: How Much is for 5 sweets?

Shopkeeper: That would be 2 1/2 cent please...

Customer: Here you go.. 2 1/2 cents!!!

The coins are valued from 1/4 cent, 1/2 cent, 1 cent, 2 1/2 cent, 5 cent, 10cent, 20 cent and 50 cent. The coins which are valued above 5 or equivalent are contained precious metal. Precious metal can range from gold to silver or bronze. The coins carry the names and the portrait of each Rajah of its time.

The first banknotes were first issued by the Sarawak Government Treasury . It ranges from 5 cent to $100. after 1922 anything higher than $50 is considered rare. I cant find old Sarawak coin pictures. Maybe next time when I' back i'll take some shots of it. That's if i can find them.

Aram Ngirup Kitai..