DNW OFFER RARE MALAYA AND BRITISH BORNEO BANKNOTES

Two extremely rare high denomination banknotes issued in Malaya and British Borneo in 1953 will be among the highlights of a three-day sale of Paper Money, Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals to be held by the international specialists Dix Noonan Webb in London from 7 to 9 December 2015. An extraordinary range of material will be auctioned and the paper money section is an addition to Dix Noonan Webb’s usual two sales a year in this specialist area.

Both Malaya and British Borneo notes are dated 21 March 1953 and bear the signature of W.C. Taylor, Chairman of the newly-established Board of Commissioners of Currency for Malaya and British Borneo. Previously the two territories had issued separate notes. The changeover to the combined currency coincided by chance with the death of George VI, so these notes bore the portrait of Elizabeth II as well as the name of the new Board.

The two to be auctioned by Dix Noonan Webb are a $10,000 note, which is estimated at £12,000 to £15,000, and a $1,000 note, expected to fetch £10,000 to £12,000. Both are extremely rare, with the number of known examples in single figures, and neither of these particular notes has been on the market before. They were produced as specimens to familiarise bank staff handling notes with this entirely new series. Although the $1,000 denomination note was issued to the public, the $10,000 one was restricted to inter-bank usage. Both were high value, the exchange rate at the time being 8.57 Malaya and British Borneo dollars to the pound.

The Dix Noonan Webb auction will also include a Singapore $1,000 specimen note. This is from the first series of notes for Singapore in 1967, known as the ‘Orchid Series’, and the $1,000 is scarce as an issued note and rare as a specimen. This example is estimated at £2,000 to £2,500.

To find out more about the sale visit:
http://www.dnw.co.uk/

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web