Malaysia 1 ringgit coin story started on 1 May 1971 when a 1 ringgit 1971 introduce in Malaysia for the first time. In that year, 2,378,995 pieces of the coin has been approved for circulation, around 500,000 were minted at London Mint, the rest are minted at Kilang Wang Bank Negara in Shah Alam. This first series of Malaysia 1 ringgit have artistic design with hibiscus (Malaysia National Flower) and a dollar ($1) sign on the Obverse. On the Reverse is the Parliament House over a crescent moon with 14 stars. It has a plain edge with a letters -BANK NEGARA MALAYSIA. It has a diameter of 33.5 mm, weight 16.85 g and have Cupro-nickel composition.
Nowadays, many non collector mistakenly think the 1971 1 ringgit as a very rare coin and sell them at a very ridiculous price but actually you can still get that coin for RM15 a piece. For the old big 1 ringgit, most collectors are looking for other years since the approved mintage are very low. Here are Malaysia 1 ringgit copper-nickel mintage for everyone guide:
- 1971: 2,378,995
- 1971: 500 (proof)
- 1980: 472,095
- 1981: 764,795
- 1982: 201,550
- 1984: 355,472
- 1985: 301,583
- 1986: 252,473
On 4 September 1989, a second series of sen coins entered circulation. Bank Negara Malaysia change the design, size and composition of the 1 ringgit coin. The changes include the depiction of items of Malay culture on the obverse, and the inclusion of a Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Malay: Bunga Raya), the national flower of Malaysia, on the upper half of the reverse. The size of the 1 ringgit coin was also reduced from a diameter of 33 mm to 24 mm, and was minted from an alloy of copper, zinc and tin, as opposed to the first series cupronickel. On the reverse is a Keris with a songket background. On the obverse show a hibiscus (bunga raya) with $1 sign, year of mintage and a letters -BANK NEGARA MALAYSIA. The edge of the coin is reeded. Most collectors called this coin as a 1 ringgit bunga raya 'gold' coin.
On 14 November 1993, RM1 coins bearing the symbol “RINGGIT” were introduced, following the adoption of the ringgit as Malaysia’s currency symbol. The new "1 ringgit" coin has confused many people, some were saying that it is a counterfeit and many shop don't want to take that coins.
Here are Malaysia 1 ringgit Copper-zinc-tin mintage list:
- 1989: 20,409,995
- 1990: 80,101,998
- 1991: 169,000,868
- 1992: 139,041,750
- 1993: 178,893,810 ($1 and 1 ringgit)
- 1994: 36,899,026
- 1995: 132,172,580
- 1996: 59,460,000
They're many counterfeit 1 ringgit "gold" coins in the market, Bank Negara Malaysia has released a guide before on how to check genuine 1 ringgit coins:
- The wordings Bank Negara Malaysia are sharp where the fine lines are clearly defined.
- The symbol either “RINGGIT” or “$” and the numeral “1” are clearly defined.
- The motif of the hibiscus flower is well embossed where the fine lines are clearly defined.
- The design and pattern on the sheath of the Keris on the reverse of the coin is clearly defined.
- The milled edge is clearly defined.
On 7 December 2005, the 1 ringgit coin was demonetised and withdrawn from circulation. This was partly due to problems with standardisation (two different versions of the second series coin were minted) and forgery.
A blogger friend of mine request an article about Malaysia 1 ringgit coin story. He is a Singaporean but love many thing about Malaysia, remgold from OpEd. He wrote many thing about Malaysia politic nowadays, a good source for non-Malaysian view about what happening in this country.
