Malaysian ringgit

Malaysian ringgit

Ringgit Malaysia Template:Ms icon
File:SMS0387 RM100 front s.jpg 100 ringgit
ISO 4217
Code	MYR (numeric: 458)
Subunit	0.01
Unit
Symbol	RM‎
Denominations
Subunit
1/100	sen
Banknotes	RM1, RM2 RM5, RM10, RM50, RM100
Coins	1, 5, 10, 20, 50 sen
Demographics
User(s)	Malaysia
Issuance
Central bank	Bank Negara Malaysia
Website	www.bnm.gov.my
Valuation
Inflation	2.9%
Source	CIA World Fact Book, 2005 est.

The ringgit (unofficially known as the Malaysian dollar), is the official monetary unit of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 sen (cents) and its currency code is MYR.

Etymology

The word ringgit means "jagged" in Malay, and was originally used to refer to the serrated edges of Spanish silver dollars widely circulated in the area. The Singapore dollar and the Brunei dollar are also called ringgit in Malay (although e.g. the U.S. and Australian dollars are dolar), hence its official abbreviation RM for Ringgit Malaysia.

The Malay names ringgit and sen were officially adopted as the sole official names in August 1975. Previously they had been known officially as dollars and cents in English and ringgit and sen in Malay, and in some parts of the country this usage continues. For example, in Penang one ringgit is "one dollar" in English and "tsit⁸-kho·¹" (一塊/一块)in Hokkien. In North Malaya, denominations of ten sen are called kupang in Malay ("poat⁸" in Hokkien), e.g. 50 sen is 5 kupang.

History

On June 12, 1967 the Malaysian dollar replaced the Malaya and British Borneo dollar at par. The Malaysian dollar was issued by the new central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia.

Until 1973, the Malaysian dollar was exchangeable at par with the Singapore dollar and Brunei dollar. The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Brunei Currency and Monetary Board still maintain the exchangeability of their two currencies.

The use of the dollar sign "$" (or "M$") was not replaced by "RM" (Ringgit Malaysia) until the 1990s, though internationally "MYR" (MY being the country code for Malaysia) is more widely used.

Coins

First series

First Series [1]
Value	Diameter	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	First Minted Year	Released Date
1 sen	18 mm	Bronze		Parliament House and a 13-pointed star and crescent moon	State title, value, year	1967	12 June 1967
1 sen		Copper clad steel				1973	?
5 sen	16 mm	Cupronickel		Parliament House and a 13-pointed star and crescent moon	State title, value, year	1967	12 June 1967
10 sen	19 mm
20 sen	23 mm
50 sen	28 mm
50 sen			Lettered			1971	?
$1	33 mm		Lettered "BANK NEGARA MALAYSIA"	Parliament House and a 14-pointed star and crescent moon		1971	1 May 1971

Second series

Second Series [2]
Value	Diameter	Composition	Obverse	Reverse	First Minted Year	Released Date
1 sen	18 mm	Bronze clad steel	Rebana ubi	Bank title, value, year	1989	4 September 1989
5 sen	16 mm	Cupronickel	Gasing	Bank title, value, year	1989	4 September 1989
10 sen	19 mm		Congklak
20 sen	23 mm		Tepak sirih
50 sen	28 mm		Wau
$1	24 mm	Copper-zinc-tin	Keris with the songket in background	Bank title, "$1", year	1989	4 September 1989
$1				Bank title, "1 ringgit", year	1993

On December 7, 2005, the RM1 coin was demonetised and withdrawn from circulation. This was partly due to problems with standardization (two different versions of the coin were minted) and forgery.

Three denominations of gold bullion coins, the "Kijang Emas" (The kijang (a species of deer) is the official logo of Bank Negara Malaysia) are also issued, at the face value of RM 50, RM 100 and RM 200. It was launched on July 17, 2001 by Bank Negara Malaysia and minted by Royal Mint of Malaysia Sdn Bhd. The purchase and reselling price of Kijang Emas is determined by the prevailing international gold market price.

Banknotes

Bank Negara Malaysia first issued Malaysian dollar banknotes in June 1967 in $1, $5, $10, $50 and $100 denominations. The $1000 denomination was first issued in 1968. Malaysian banknotes have always carried the image of the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

ATMs normally dispense RM50 notes, or more rarely, RM10 notes in combination with RM50 notes.

Malaysian banknotes have long followed a colour code originating from colonial times. In the lower denominations this pattern is followed by Singapore and Brunei, and when Bank Negara first introduced the RM2 note it copied the lilac of the Singapore $2 note.

• RM1 - blue
• RM2 - lilac
• RM5 - green
• RM10 - red
• RM20 - brown/white
• RM50 - blue/grey
• RM100 - violet
• RM500 - orange
• RM1000 - blue/green

First series

The front features Tuanku Abdul Rahman and the back features the traditional design of the 'Kijang Emas'

• $1 front
  $1 front
• $1 back
  $1 back
• $10 front
  $10 front
• $10 back
  $10 back
• $50 front
  $50 front
• $50 back
  $50 back

Second series

The second series was issued with Malaysian traditional ornamental designs in 1982–1984, in $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1000 denominations. The $20 was generally relatively uncommon. The second series notes are still occasionally encountered.

The mark for the blind on the upper left hand corner was removed on the second revision in 1986.

In 1999 the RM500 and RM1000 notes were discontinued and ceased to be legal tender. This was due because of the Asian monetary crisis of 1997 when huge amounts of ringgit were taken out of the country to be traded in these notes. In effect the notes were withdrawn out of circulation and the amount of ringgit taken out of the country in banknotes was limited to RM1000.

In 1993, $1 notes were discontinued and replaced by the $1 coin.

Second Series
Image		Value	Color	Obverse	Reverse	Issued Date
RM1 front	RM1 back	$1	Blue	Tuanku Abdul Rahman	The National Monument (Tugu Negara)	1982
		$5	Green		King's Palace at Kuala Lumpur	1981
RM10 front	RM10 back	$10	Red		Old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station	1983
RM20 front	RM20 back	$20	Brown/white		Bank Negara Malaysia	1982
		$50	Blue/grey		National Museum at Kuala Lumpur	1983
		$100	Violet		National Mosque at Kuala Lumpur	1983
		$500	Orange		High Court building	1982
		$1000	Blue/green		Parliament building	1983

Third series

The current and third series was issued with designs in the spirit of Wawasan 2020 in1996–1999 in denominations of RM2, RM5, RM10, RM50 and RM100. The larger denomination RM50 and RM100 notes had an additional hologram strip to deter counterfeiters.

In 2004, Bank Negara issued a new RM10 note with additional security features including the holographic strip previously only seen on the RM50 and RM100 notes. A new RM5 polymer banknote with a distinctive transparent window was also issued. Both new banknotes are almost identical to their original third series designs. According to Bank Negara, all paper notes will eventually be phased out and replaced by polymer notes.

In 2000 the RM1 note was reintroduced, replacing the RM2 note which remains legal tender.

Third Series [3]
Image		Value	Dimensions	Color	Obverse	Reverse	Issued Date	Status	Note
RM1 front	RM1 back	RM1	120 x 65 mm	Blue	Tuanku Abdul Rahman	Tourism, Mount Kinabalu and "Wau Bulan" kite	2000	Circulation
RM2 front	RM2 front	RM2	130 x 65 mm	Lilac		Telecomunications, Menara Kuala Lumpur communications tower and MEASAT satellite	1996	Withdrawn
RM5 front	RM5 back	RM5	135 x 65 mm	Green		Multimedia Super Corridor, KLIA and Petronas Twin Towers	1999	Withdrawn	paper
RM5 front	RM5 back						October 26, 2004	Circulation	polymer(Biaxially-oriented polypropylene)
RM10 front	RM10 back	RM10	140 x 65 mm	Red		Transportation, Putra LRT train, Malaysia Airlines aircraft and MISC ship	1998	Withdrawn	without holographic strip
RM10 front	RM10 back						2004	Circulation	with holographic strip
RM50 front	RM50 back	RM50	145 x 69 mm	Blue/grey		Mining, Petronas oil platform	1998	Circulation
RM100 front	RM105 back	RM100	150 x 69 mm	Violet		Heavy Industrial, Proton car production line and engine	1998	Circulation
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes.

Comemorative

To commemorate the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, a commemorative RM50 polymer banknote was issued, marking Malaysia's first usage of polymer banknotes. This note is hardly ever seen in normal usage, its use being a collector's commemorative.

Comemorative
Image		Value	Dimensions	Color	Front	Back	Issued Date	Note
RM50 front	RM50 back	RM50	152 x 76 mm	Yellow and green	Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the skyline of Kuala Lumpur (with the Petronas Twin Towers)	Bukit Jalil Sports complex	1998	polymer(Biaxially-oriented polypropylene)
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes.

Currency peg

As a result of the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the ringgit was pegged to the U.S. dollar at the fixed rate of RM 3.8 to the dollar.

On July 21, 2005, Bank Negara announced the end of the 7-year peg to the US dollar immediately after China's announcement of the end of the renminbi peg to the US dollar. According to Bank Negara, Malaysia will allow the ringgit to operate in a managed float against several major currencies. This has resulted in the value of the ringgit rising closer to its perceived market value, although Bank Negara has intervened in financial markets to maintain stability in the trading level of the ringgit.

Current MYR exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From OANDA:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD

External links

• Bank Negara Malaysia Currency page showing security features of current banknotes issue (RM1, RM2, RM5, RM10, RM50, and RM100 denominations).
• Bank Negara Malaysia Money Museum website providing numismatic collection, history of money in Malaysia, and galleries.
• Stamp & Coin Mart page on Malaysian Banknotes, including history of legal tender in Straits Settlements, Federation of Malaya and Malaysia.
• Global Financial Data currency histories table
• Tables of modern monetary history: Asia

Preceded by: Malaya and British Borneo dollar Reason: Currency Agreement Ratio: at par, or 60 dollars = 7 British pounds

Currency of Malaysia 1967 –

Succeeded by: Current