:: Numismatica :: Banknote & Coin Collecting

Malaysian Numismatic Books by Saran Singh from 1974 to 2017

Mr. Saran Singh, Writer, Numismatist & Collector

For those of you who collect Malaya/Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei coins and banknotes, you must have heard of the name "Saran Singh" before. He is perhaps Malaysia's most prolific numismatic writers. His books are more than just catalogs of numismatic collectibles, they chronicle the historical aspects of the numismatic artifacts as well, which makes all the difference as a result his books are highly sought after by serious collectors and numismatic researchers.

To honor his achievements and contributions to the numismatic community, we have compiled the full list of his books on Malaysian numismatics for your reference. For those who collect numismatic literature, this will be a useful guide on what's out there. There are a total of 8 books listed, arranged in chronological order and we have assigned reference numbers GC1 to GC8 for these highly sought after items.We have included useful information such as release date and the price of the book at the time is was issued. Other key data such as size and dimension and weight of the books are also included.

Cat#	Book Title & Details	Copies	Year	Price
GC1	The Catalogue of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Coins (1700-1974) Author(s) : Saran Singh Publisher : Malaysia Numismatic Society (MNS) Pages : 92 pages, paperback Dimensions : 23.6 x 19.3 x 0.6cm Weight : 217g Printer : International Cultural Enterprises, K.L. Notes : While the book itself was ready to be published as early as March 1973, financial constraints had delayed its printing to May 1974 with some portions of the book had to be left out due to the high printing cost. Eventually only a paperback/soft cover edition was released in December 1974. The book was sold out in in 1976.	1,000	1974	M$9
GC2	Standard Catalogue of Coins and Banknotes of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (1700-1976) Author(s) : Saran Singh, Mohd Kassin Haji Ali, CC Low & Tony Lye Fong Nge Publisher : Malaysia Numismatic Society (MNS) Pages : 403 pages, hardcover Dimensions : 26.8 x 19.3 x 2.8cm Weight : 1.08 kg Distributor : World Monetarium, K.L. Notes : Better financed (private funding rather than from the MNS) and this time complete with standardized reference numbers, the book was released on 3 October 1976. It was sold out 5 years later.	1,000	1976	M$30
GC3	Pictorial Guide to Grading of Malaysian Coins & Banknotes Author(s) : Saran Singh Publisher : Malaysia Numismatic Society (MNS) Pages : 143 pages, hardcover with dust jacket Dimensions : 25.0 x 17.5 x 1.5 cm Weight : 380g Printer : Academe Art & Printing Services Sdn Bhd Notes : Officially released on 2nd December 1987 at the MNS 10^th Anniversary Dinner at the Federal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The mid to late 1980s was the start of the numismatic grading era, the timely release of this book provides a guide on the grading of coins and banknotes. It also covers coin cleaning and preservation as well as how to identify fakes. The book was sold out in 2 years.	1,000	1978	M$15
GC4	Standard Catalogue of Coins and Banknotes of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (1786-1980), First Edition Author(s) : C. C. Low & Saran Singh Publisher : World Monetarium, K.L. Pages : 100 pages, paperback Dimensions : 21.7 x 15.5 x 0.5 cm Weight : 217g Distributor : World Monetarium, K.L. Notes : A smaller sized book that covers the coinages with a distinctive red colour paperback with gold hot stamped title and embossed company logo of the late Mr. C.C. Low’s World Monetarium, Kuala Lumpur. This is somewhat a lesser known book and rarely seen.	1,000	1980	M$15
GC5	The Encyclopaedia of the Coins of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei 1400-1986 Author(s) : Saran Singh Publisher : Malaysia Numismatic Society (MNS) Type : 696 pages, hardcover Dimensions : 29.8 x 21.0 x 3.0 cm Weight : 2.08kg Printer : United Selangor Press Sdn Bhd, K.L. Notes : This book was officially released on 28 September 1986 to coincide with MNS Auction Number 69 at the Federal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. This is by far the most comprehensive book on Malaysian numismatics, dating back to 1400; with 21 chapters and 4 appendices. It took Saran 4.5 years to research and write. The most notable fact of this book is that it contains illustrations of 1,500 coins and token of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei issued in the last 500 years in ACTUAL SIZE. For numismatic researchers and writers, it is advisable to obtain this edition for your reference. Subsequent editions may not illustrate the coins in the actual dimensions. In addition, a separate volume of “Price Guide” was issued free along with the book, 58 pages, 29.8 x 21.0 x 0.6 cm, 193g. As of end of 1989, there were only 30 copies left for sale.	850	1986	M$67
GC6	Malaya & Sarawak Coupons Author(s) : Saran Singh Publisher : Malaysia Numismatic Society (MNS) Pages : 39 pages, paperback Dimensions : 29.8 x 21.0 x 0.3 cm Weight : 178g Printer : The Pepin Press, K.L. Notes : The contents of this book was an extension of what was published in the Malaysia Numismatic Society 21^st Anniversary Souvenir Book (1969-1989).	350 with hand written serial #	1990	-
GC7	The Encyclopaedia of the Coins of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei 1400-1967 Author(s) : Saran Singh Publisher : Malaysia Numismatic Society (MNS) Pages 603 pages, hardcover Dimensions : 26.5 x 19.3 x 3.5 cm Weight : 1.75kg Printer : International Stamp & Coins Sdn. Bhd. Notes : Book production by Mr. Steven Tan Released in Feb 1997	1,000	1997	RM90
GC8	The Encyclopaedia of Dry Rubber Export Coupons of Malaya, Netherlands East Indies and Ceylon (1922-1942) Author(s) : Saran Singh Publisher : Kelab Warisan Numismatik Malaysia (KWNM) Pages : 302 page, hardcover Dimensions : 29.0 x 22.5 x 2.5 cm Weight : 1.70kg Printer : Percetakan Osacar Sdn. Bhd. Notes : Book design and layout by alphaNumis Copies : 700 printed, with serial number on the bottom of inside cover ISBN : 978-967-14658-0-6 Released in 16 December 2016, the research for this book took 2.5 years to complete. It is a follow up 2^nd edition of the book with the similar title published (GC6 above) in 1990. Officially launched on 8 January 2017 as a KWNM publication at the MNS auction, this edition covers the detailed history of rubber export coupons for Malaya, Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) and Ceylon. The book also documents and catalogues petrol ration coupons, share certificates and government bonds. This book went on to win the prestigious International Banknote Society (IBNS) Book of the Year 2016 award, the first Malaysian publication to do so. Mr. Saran Singh was assisted in the research, book design and layout by Gilbert C for this ground breaking book.	700 S/N : 000 to 699	Dec 2016	RM300

Bank Negara Seminar on Numismatic Grading [ 20 May 2017 ]

Fig. 1 : Sasana Kijang, BNM Kuala Lumpur

Back in mid April 2017, I was contacted by an official from Bank Negara Malaysia (the Malaysian Central Bank). The call was from none other than the curator of the Numismatic Museum of Bank Negara himself, inviting me to conduct a seminar on numismatic grading. Of course I agreed to do it without any hesitation whatsoever! Mainly because it is indeed an honor and privilege to receive such an invitation from the best numismatic museum in the country!

The event was scheduled for 20 May 2017, 2:30 p.m. at the auditorium at Sasana Kijang, Kuala Lumpur and the duration is expected to be 2 hours. With about 6 weeks to go I immediately set about preparing the content of the seminar.

For a start - why talk about numismatic grading and not any other topics? For most people numismatic grading equals to graded coins or banknotes stored in slabs of plastic with the grading company logo and a number between 1 to 70 indicating the grade. But grading is much more than just a number, it is a important aspect in determining the value of the collectible that every collector and numismatist must learn and understand. Failure to do so will increase the risk of overpaying for something, especially when acquiring ungraded / "unslabbed" items.

Fig 2. Opening slide for the seminar

The main objective of the seminar was to provide a high level view of the numismatic grading and its origins, while trying to keep the technical aspects of it at a minimum - which many perceive to be difficult to learn. It is hoped that attendees will come away from the seminar being able to make sense of grading and what it means to the collector.

Fig 3 : Grading a coin ....

Fig 4 : Relationship between grade and value

Fig. 5 : BNM's invitation letter & momento.

Asia School of Business (ASB) Commemorative silver coin 2016 - Obverse

Fig. 6 : The very "rare" Asia School of Business commemorative silver coin
(Although not officially stated I have been told that there are only 100 minted)

Asia School of Business (ASB) Commemorative silver coin 2016 - Reverse

Fig. 7 : The reverse of the commemorative coin

With a total of 126 presentation slides, packed with vital information, the seminar did generate some interest in grading, resulting in a question and answer session which lasted more than 1 hour. We wish to record our thanks and appreciation to Bank Negara Malaysia Numismatic Museum for organizing such an event that promote the hobby of numismatics. It is indeed a honour to be amongst the select few who has been invited to speak at the MAG Theatre of Sasana Kijang.

Fig 10: Technical specifications for the Asia School of Business (ASB) Commemorative silver coin 2016.

Fig. 9: Technical specifications for the Asia School of Business (ASB) Commemorative silver coin 2016.

Fig 8. Logo of ASB. Source : http://www.asb.edu.my/

To top off this honour, I was presented with a momento from BNM as a token of appreciation - and much to my surprise it turned out to be the much sought after "Asia School of Business" commemorative silver coin. This coin was never issued to the public, which makes it difficult to obtain for the average collector. While not officially stated, I have been told that only 100 of these coins were minted. It was released on 23rd February 2016 to coincide with the ground breaking ceremony for the new campus building that was officiated by our then BNM Governor Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz. The Asia School of Business is a collaboration between BNM and MIT Sloan School of Business, one of the top business schools in the United States.

The Asia School of Business offers Master in Business Administration (MBA) courses here in Kuala Lumpur - being one of the top schools in the world, its fee is certainlynot cheap! This world class 20 month full time course will set you back by RM265,000 for Malaysian students and RM365,000 (USD85,000) for international students.

The official press release from BNM for the ground breaking event can be found here.

And of course it does not end here, we are planning for more seminars in the near future. The new seminars will be announced via our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/alphanumis

In the meantime, HAPPY COLLECTING !!!

First Malaysian Book to Win the IBNS Book of the Year

The September copy of the International Banknote Society Journal was just released yesterday, 20 September 2017.

I have been eagerly awaiting the official announcement of the winner and indeed, Mr. Saran Singh's book won the prestigious IBNS Book of the Year Award!

The award was first given out as far back as 1979. Recent winner include "Banknotes of British Malaya: The Frank Goon Collection by Frank Goon" published in 2011, by Spink & Son, UK.

For the 2016 submission, there were 20 books in the running, from various countries such as USA, the UK, Uruguay, Argentina to name a few. "The Encyclopaedia of Dry Rubber Export Coupons : Malaya, Ceylon & Netherlands East Indies 1922-1942" was the ONLY submission from Asia / Malaysia.

This is the FIRST time a Malaysian numismatic has won the IBNS award !!!

Error Note with Missing numbers? Think again !

The world of numismatics is never boring, in my opinion that is.

This piece that just came in for "an inspection" made my day. This is an 11th series Malaysian banknote of 10 Ringgit issued in the year 2000 duly signed by our governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

At first glance it definitely looks like a genuine error note with 4 missing digits on the reverse right corner. The serial number format for these notes is a 2 letter prefix followed by 7 digit numbers.

But upon further inspection on the problematic area ......

Fig. 1 Malaysia 11th Series 10 Ringgit Reverse side

Queen Elizabeth II Portraits on Banknotes - An Overview

Of all the dignitaries throughout the entire human history, Queen Elizabeth II's portrait has appeared on the most number of banknotes from countries across all the continents on this planet. Her image appear on Canadain banknote when she was as young as 8, then Princess Elizabeth, before her uncle abdicated, making her father the King of England, hence making her the next in line for the throne.

The Washington Post did a wonderful piece on QE2 and the author summarized it rather neatly in an infographic potraying the countries and years of which QE2 appeared on their banknotes. All in there are 33 countries involved since her ascension to the throne in 1953. And today, less than half of those countries still retain her portrait.

The full article is here : Every Country that Feature Queen Elizabeth II on it Currency

So here's to all you collectors of QE2 banknotes.

A numismatic story of the Chinese New Year

Ang Pow or 紅包

The 2017 Chinese New Year is just around the corner. We wish all fellow collectors and numismatist a very prosperous new year ahead and may you find what you seek for your collections.

The Chinese New Year (of the Lunar Calendar), also know was Spring Festival (春節) in China, is widely celebrated throughout East Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. In Malaysia, we get 2 days off and most ethnic Chinese folks will travel to their home towns for the reunion dinner with their families on the new year eve, followed by 15 days of celebration, visiting friends and relatives, with lots of feasting and gift giving.

Speaking of gifts, one of the most prominent practices during this period is the giving of 紅包 (hong bao) or "Ang Pow" meaning "red packets". These are essentially decorative red colored envelopes filled with money, given to unmarried children by parents and also to all the children of their friends and relatives whom we visit or even bumped into! As a child, we all grew up looking forward to receiving them during the new year and would most probably spend them on sweets, toys and fire works, despite our parents advising us to save the money!

Curious as to where and how did this practice came to be, we did a little research of our own.

As expected, there are several versions as to the origins of Ang Pow.

It is commonly believed that during the Sung Dynasty ( 宋朝) era in China (A.D. 960-1279), in a village called Chang-Chieu a huge demon used to terrorize the villagers once every year. No warrior can defeat it. Then along came a young orphan, armed with a sacred sabre inherited from his ancestors fought this evil demon and defeated it. Grateful for this noble deed, the villagers presented the young lad with red packets filled with money in it as a reward.

Interesting no doubt but some how it does not sound very convincing, the story is far too simple to be believable right? .... the good news is that there is an alternative version to this, which happens to be our favorite, the story goes like this :

In ancient times, they were not called Ang Pows, the name only came in to use only in the last century or so. During the early Ching Dynasty era (1644 - 1911), they were called 壓歲錢 (ya sui qian), translated it means "lucky money" but the literal translation sounds more intriguing - 壓 (ya) means to press or put pressure on something, 歲 (sui) means age in years and 錢 (qian) means money.

So why such a weird name you ask? Legend has it that in ancient times, there were little demons called 祟 (sui), with dark body and white hands that goes around harming little children during the night before the Chinese New Year. Note that the sound of the word 祟 (sui) is akin to 歲 or 睡 also pronounced as sui, meaning age or to sleep.

These little demons (and mind you there are hundreds of types of demons in Chinese mythology) would roam the cities and villages late at night, they put their hand on a sleeping child's forehead and a bout high fever will ensue and they will be eventually become mentally ill for life.

Needless to say, parents are worried about these little creatures, they encourage their kids of stay up all night since the demons can only harm sleeping children. One family strung together 8 pieces of coins for their child to play in attempt to keep him awake. Unfortunately the child was too tired and fell asleep and the parents put the string of 8 coins under the child's pillow and decided to stay up all night with candles lit to keep watch over their precious little one. But they too, fell asleep ..... a gust blew off the candle.

A string of ancient Chinese coins

The little demon sneaked into the room with glee and as its white hands reaches out to touch the poor child's forehead, the glittering coins startled the little devil which shrieked and ran away as fast as it could, thus the coins have saved the child from harm.

Those were obviously brilliant uncirculated coins!

It was later revealed that the coins were a physical manifestation of the famous 8 deities or 8 immortals (八仙) in Chinese mythology. And so word got around that we should put a string of coins under the pillow to protect our children from harm. So giving coins to children is to protect them from sickness and we've been practicing it ever since.

The glittering coin scared off the little demon

Nice ending right ?

Do note that in the story, the glittering coins that the parents used must has been in Brilliant Uncirculated condition! Which also explains why til this very day we insist in getting uncirculated banknotes to put into our red packets!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2017!

恭喜發財紅包那來!

Translation : Happy New Year, Can I have my red packet now please?

Straits Settlements 10 Dollars - A Contemporary Forgery

We're back! From a long absence because we were working on a book project with Mr. Saran Singh. Now that the book has been published and launched, we can do go back to our usual "business".

For our first blog posting of 2017, we have a interesting piece of a forgery note - a Straits Settlements $10 note, dated 1 January 1935. We believe is may be a contemporary forgery (due to the apparent ageing of the paper), which means that it as created at the time when these notes were legal tender and in active circulation.

Take a look :

Fig 1. : Straits Settlements $10 - Obverse (Counterfeit)

"Malaysia" has been around since 1832?

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”

BNM Event - Works on Paper : Art Inside the Wallet

Date : 4 August 2016

Banknotes are something that we use everyday of our lives and yet 99.9% of us do not pay much attention when we take them out of our wallets or purse and handing them over to the cashier. As our newly appointed BNM Governor aptly puts it in his opening speech today, the ONLY time we ever pay attention to the banknotes is when the cashier hands it back to us and telling us it is not acceptable, for whatever reasons! Of course we the numismatists and collectors are the exception!

Which brings us to the main purpose of this 4 month long exhibition, which is to create awareness in the general public that that paper money are essentially works of art. Did you know that the picture of Mount Kinabalu at the back of RM1 and RM100 are hand painted first before being transferred to the printing plates and printed? There is a lot of work and money, pun intended, put into printing these bits of paper in your wallet and they are produced at such a high level of consistency that the ONLY way you can tell a difference between two RM100 notes is by their serial number!

Malaysia 50 Ringgit - Extra Digit in Serial Number

This interesting 50 Ringgit piece landed on my table some weeks back. It's not mine but I was asked to take a look at it. Here's the high resolution photo of the reverse :

Fig. 1 : Malaysian RM50 Ringgit, Reverse

Can you see the very faint extra digit on the bottom right?

For those who collect fancy number banknotes, they will know that the only way the digit at the back can only happen when the serial number reaches ten million or 10000000. And as far as I know for that last piece in each prefix, the last digit "0" is manually inserted, not printed by the numbering machine. So there is absolutely no way an extra digit is going to appear in the location above, what more it is also misaligned; the last digit is always a zero, not eight.

So at the first glance this piece looks suspicious already!

Now if you check the last digit really up close, here's what you'll see :

Fig. 2 : Comparing the 2 digits of "8" under a microscope

The one on the left is the last digit and the one on the right is another "8" for the same banknote. Notice the difference in the height and width?

That's the dead giveaway that the extra "8" is added after the banknote left the factory.

So folks, please be careful when you come across any such "error notes".

Happy Collecting !

Pages