Today, 16 September 2016 marks the 53rd anniversary of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, which comprised of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore at the time it was formed on this day in 1963.
While Malaysia as a country technically came into existence in 1963, the name "Malaysia" has been in use for much longer than that, in fact it has been around for more than 130 years!
The name Malaysia or “Malaisie” in French, has been used on maps long before the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. One such example is the map titled “S. E. Peninsula and Malaysia” published W. & A.K. Johnston in 1849. Measuring 24 by 19.5 inches (50cm x 60cm), it also covers “Pulo Pinang or Prince of Wales Island”. W. & A.K. Johnston was one of the major publishing houses of the 19th century, they were based in Edinburgh, U.K.
This "Malaysia" piece was found in "The National Atlas Of Historical, Commercial, And Political Geography, Constructed From The Most Recent And Authentic Sources, By Alexander Keith Johnston, F.R.G.S., Honorary Member Of The Geographical Society, Berlin, And Geographer At Edinburgh In Ordinary To Her Majesty. With A Copious Index Carefully Compiled From The Maps", first published in 1843.
Figure 1: A.K. Johnston’s 1849 map titled “S. E. Peninsula and Malaysia”
Fig 1 : Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz. [Source : globalaccessibilitynews.com]
Malaysians can look forward to having a new central bank governor in less than 30 days' time. The
current governor Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the 7th in line since the central bank was established in 1959; will be stepping down by end of March 2016 when her contract expires.
With 16 years at the helm, she is the longest serving BNM Governor yet. She is also the first woman to be appointed for this prestigious but challenging job. To her credit she was won many accolades, awards and recognition from renowned international organizations such as EuroMoney, University of Pennsylvannia (Wharton) just to name a few. In 2011 Bloomberg reported that she was considered as a potential candidate for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). If anything, she has put Malaysia on the financial services industry map.
Almost exactly 6 months after its inaugural auction of banknotes with special serial numbers, the much anticipated auction was held today at the same venue, Sasana Kijang in Kuala Lumpur.
This time there was 178 lots up for grabs, compared to 231 for the first auction (53 lots or 23% difference). The buyer's premium is at 15%. The official schedule :
8:30 am Registration Starts
10:30 am Session 1 - RM1, RM10 and RM50
1:30 pm Session 2 - RM5, RM20, RM100
The auction did start at 10:30am this time around, registration was comparatively smoother than last time, mainly because the crowd was not as big as the first time and also perhaps people know what to expect already.
This is a quick run down on the statistics and a brief analysis of the BNM auction yesterday. The are base on the UNOFFICIAL results of the auction. I do hope MNP will publish the realized prices soon so that further analysis can be done.
The much anticipated numismatic event of the year has finally arrived. As I made my way to Sasana Kijang in downtown Kuala Lumpur, there are many thoughts about how the event will turn out and how it will affect the local numismatic market. There has been much buzz on social media sites and many will turn up at the event - either to bid for the items or to just sit on the sidelines and enjoy the show. Which ever way it goes, I think it is going to be a very crowded.
From what I know, and do correct me if I am wrong, such an event is unprecedented; as in our central bank is, for the very first time, running such an auction. The event is conducted by MNP Auctioneers (based in Penang, with office in downtown KL) at the auditorium of Sasana Kijang. The buyers' premium is quite reasonable - at 15% of the hammer price and there are 231 lots up for grabs.
As I arrived just after 9:00am and made my way down the escalator to the foyer of the auditorium, you can already hear the noise. People are already queuing up to register.
Fig 1: Escalator going down to the auditorium
Fig 2. Crowd building up....
Fig 3. Registration counters were packed.
Fig 4. Waiting for their number cards.
As I reached the foyer, I could immediately see all the familiar faces, just about every personality and dealer in the numismatic scene are there; from Steven Tan to Raymond Chang to KN Boon. Folks from the Malaysian Numismatic Society like Dickson Niew were there too. We even have collectors coming from down south, as in from Johor and Singapore, some from the north of the peninsular as well. I did not, however, encounter anyone from Hong Kong or China, which according to some will be here as well.
There was a lot of catching up to do, after all, no where in this country you can find all the dealers and collectors all in the same place at the same time ! I said many hellos to people whom I know and chatted with for hours on Facebook Messenger but have NEVER met them in person.
Fig 5. Guess who's here?
Fig 6. Can't touch this!
According to the itinerary, registration will be from 9:00am onwards and bidding is expected to begin at 10:00am. Due to the overwhelming crowd, the registration took a bit longer and bidding finally got underway at 11:00am. As I entered the auditorium, I took a rough calculation and my estimate that there there are about 250 to 300 people at the start of the session, this is the probably the biggest numismatic auction in this country yet.
Fig 7. The atmosphere of the grand looking hall.
Fig 8. Very spacious hall at audio was good and clear.
Fig 9. Waiting for the bidding to start.
Fig 10. And so it begins ....
Fig 11. Bidding went on for hours.
Fig 12. Good turnout.
The first lot up for grabs was RM1 AB Prefix with numbers AB0000001-10 with an indicative price of only RM200. Now this first lot was a BIG shocker, it came in at RM5,700 ! Subsequent similar lots settled at about RM3,500 to RM4,800 range. This took everyone in the room by surprise, there were gasps and claps at the same time. Amazing.
The next big thing was Lot 61 RM5 AA6666666, that piece comes with a frame and it got bidded up to RM16,000. Unbelievable. Considering that the rest of RM5 pieces were doing RM2000 to RM3000+.
Fast forward to 2:00pm, we are still at Lot 77, only one third of the way thru. At this rate, my calculations show that this should finish at about 8:00pm.I couldn't stay any longer and had to leave for my next appointment, after all according to the itinerary, it was suppose to finish at 2:00pm.
The prices are just incredible - for low serials, at least 10 times the catalog prices.
As I made my way out, I could see that some people have already left, perhaps disappointed that they could not get any of the lots at their target prices. I left the place thinking about what will be the subsequent impact of these new high prices of special serial number banknotes ....
I'll be back with my thoughts and some analysis of this momentous event. I will try to get the realized prices tonight and run thru them.
Stay tuned!
P.S. In the meantime, get ready to answer a barrage of questions from your brothers, sisters, wife or wives, aunties, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, colleagues, friends, your insurance agent, car mechanic, right up to your hairdresser about what is their nice number banknote is worth and whether you want to buy or not. Expect this to be inflicted upon you for a minimum of 6 months.
