Bangladesh Takas

I was in Bangladesh last week. Bangladesh is the 29th or 30th country that I have evern been to and its currency is one which I have never collected before. During the transit to Dhaka, I went to a money changer near Mustafa Centre in Singapore and I managed to get a number of 500 Taka notes like this one:

500 Taka note. That hole on the right side occurs on every single 500 Taka note that I have.

All the notes have the same holes. I was quite intrigued and of course that's the first question I asked when I was in Dhaka. Apparently the hole is caused by banks which punched through a set of notes and bind them together using a piece of string. If the note is new, the hole is hardly visible but with wear and tear, the holes got bigger. The other thing I also found is that people like to write on the notes.

1000 Taka note. That same hole also appears on this 1000 Taka note plus additional staple notes.

Later on I managed to acquire this newer 1000 Taka note from our diplomatic mission's staff. At first glance, it looks okay. A closer examination will show the same hole and slightly torn and plus additional staple holes.

I tried purchasing older Bangaldeshi notes in Dhaka. I was told that this was not possible as most of the older notes are withdrawn and demonetise. I have to get them on the internet now.

Brunei Stamps 1906

The first stamps issued by the British Resident in Brunei were Labuan 1902/03 stamps overprinted with the word BRUNEI and the value of the stamps (photo credit: Rozan Yunos)

In 1895, Sultan Hashim issued the first Brunei stamps under a PPP under the guy who got the franchise went round selling those Brunei stamps as fast as he could.

In those days, that was considered unfair and many stamp catalogues refused to acknowledge that as Brunei's first stamps. Even in today's Scotts Stamp Catalogue, you will not find the 1895 stamps listed. The stamps many cataloguers consider as the first official Brunei stamps is the set above widely known as the Labuan Overprint.

Brunei had its first British Resident administering the country in early January 1906. He set up the first Post Officce and ordered new stamps to be used. However those stamps for the new postal service. But those stamps did not arrive until 1907. Luckily for him, the Labuan Island's administration was moved under the jurisidction of the Federal Government and will not be using their stamps anymore. So the first Brunei stamps were those left over Labuan stamps and stamped with the word BRUNEI and the value needed.

Today these are worth around RM$2,400 as listed in Standard Stamp Catalogue of Malaysia Singapore and Brunei. Whereas the Scotts Stamp Catalogue at about GBP685. I managed to acquire it for much less than that.

Brunei's New Currency Notes

I was curious as to whether the local banks have the new currency notes in circulation. Most said next week, the notes will be available. But I found one local bank which has them now. Here are the first images of the Brunei new currency notes in circulations:


The $1 note. The blue colour I thought was much lighter than the previous currency notes. Other than the portrait of His Majesty and the new see-through, the bunga simpur, the national flower, has increased in size. The reverse has obviously changed from a scene from the forest to a scene of Bandar Seri Begawan, the Brunei capital.




The $5 note lost the pitcher plant and that was replaced by a Bunga Kunyit. The reverse too is now the picture of the Lapau, Brunei's former Legislative Assembly building.




The $10 note also lost its keladi plant and this is replaced by the rancah-rancah. The reverse now depicts the Al-Jame Asr Mosque.

New Brunei Currency Notes 2011

The Brunei Times 19th July 2011 had this news about the new Brunei polymer notes:

AL-HAADI ABU BAKAR
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

BRUNEIANS can now get their hands on the new $1, $5 and $10 polymer banknotes when they will be made available and circulated this week.


The new banknotes were issued by the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) yesterday to mark the 65th birthday of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

Hj Adi Marhain Hj Leman, assistant managing director, AMBD Monetary Operations Department, said that the issuance of the new polymer notes introduces eight "new and advanced security features" to combat counterfeits and will be circulated side by side the present notes, which all will remain legal tender in Brunei and in countries which accept them.

The new polymer notes contain a dynamic optical feature which alternates between gold and blue when viewed at varying angles, as well as a multicolour raised fine line printing of His Majesty's portait, Red Crest of Brunei Darussalam, the flower design and surrounding text.

Raised printing of the Braille '1', '5' and '10' numerals are also introduced to aid the visually impaired.

The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque and the ceremonial barge, the Royal Ceremonial Hall (Lapau), and the Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah form the complex clear window design on the $1, $5 and $10 notes respectively, each incorporating a shadow image and vignette of the corresponding numeral.

When raised to the light, His Majesty's portrait, initials 'HB' and a section of the mosque or Lapau design will appear, along with a flower design through a combination of front and back printing in registration.

The new banknotes also feature complex fine line background security patterns in multiple rainbow print with fluorescing elements illuminate under ultra violet light.

Serial numbers are printed in varying sizes and fluoresce yellow/green under ultra violet light.

The Brunei Times

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Other additional photographs from The Brunei Times and The Borneo Bulletin:-

Largest Ever Brunei Stamp

It's His Majesty The Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's 65th Birthday today. And what better way to celebrate the 65th birthday?

Yes, a $65 miniature sheet which consisted of the highest ever face value for a Brunei stamp - $65! Size wise, the $65 stamp itself is probably the biggest size stamp that has been produced by Brunei.

In its 116 year of history, the Brunei postal authorities highest value stamp before this was a $60 stamp which was in commemoration of His Majesty's 60th Birthday. That has now been superseded. However it has to be noted that the 50th Birthday Miniature Sheet had 5 $50 stamp making that worth $250, thus making that the highest value for a miniature sheet.

If you can't afford the $65 stamp, don't worry. The postal authorities have the much cheaper miniature sheet containing all 6 of 65 cents each stamp.


Or you can always get the first day cover with all 6 of the 65 cents stamps.


And for those who needed the technical details:

Name of Issue
Anniversary of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzadin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, The Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, 65th Birthday

Date of Issue
15 July 2011

Stamp Denomination
65 cents x 6

Price of Miniature Sheet
$3.90

Price of Miniature Sheet High Value
%65

Designer
Pengiran Haji Mohd Yamin bin PSJ Pengiran Haji Abd Momin

Printer
Southern Colour Print, New Zealand

Size of Stamps:
30 mm x 40 mm

Size of Miniature Sheet
150 mmm x 140.5 mm

Size of Miniature Sheet High Value
160 mm x 120 mm

Printing Process
Lithography

Paper
110gsm

Perforations
13 per 2 cm

Pakistani Rupees

I was in Islamabad in December to attend a meeting. The last time I was in Islamabad was way back in 1997. I realised that a lot has changed. The public places where in those days I could travel to are now closed to traffic.

The most important thing for visitors to this blog is that the money has changed. Here are the obverse of the notes being issued nowadays. Note that the 20 Rupees have been replaced. According to the people I spoke to, the old 20 Rupees looked like the 5000 Rupees and hence the confusion. I thought the old 20 Rupees is much smaller than the 5000 Rupees and it is quite hard to think that these were alike. Anyway, the new 20 Rupees were much more colourful.

The Pakistani Rupees start from 5 Rupees and goes all the way to 5000 Rupees.

100 Years of Modern Land Administration

1906 was the beginning of Brunei's modern administration brought about the first British Resident, Mr. MSH McArthur. With the modern administration, many old institutions were broken up. One national institution was the administration of land ownership. Up to 1906, land belonged under one of the three types of administration, the kuripan, kerajaan and tulin. You either had to be one of the descendants of these holders or you are not. Or if you are rich enough, you can own the beneficial rights by paying the holders lots of money. Anyway, come the modern government in 1906. The first thing they did was to establish state lands which could be leased out or given out to companies who can make economic use out of it so that the country can benefit. The 1909 Land Code did that.

Last year was the 100th anniversary of the modern land administration. The Land Department did a 100 year celebration by holding a national land seminar but unfortunately the stamps to commemorate it were not ready.

Last week, the Land Department celebrated its existence as an independent department since 1960. In 1906 to 1960, land was administered under each district office. It was not until 1960 that the first Land Commissioner was appointed and a separate land department was created. So to commemmorate Land Department's 50th anniversary, the stamps for 100 years modern land administration were finally released:

The stamps came in three values 10c, 20c and $1. The 10c and 20c depicted, employees at the Land Department doing internal and external work and the one on the $1 stamp was a lucky recipient receiving land title given out under the Skim Penggeranan Tanah TOL.

There is also a first day cover:

For those interested in the technical details of the stamps:

Date of Issue: 23 June 2010
Stamp Denominations: 10cents, 20cents and $1.00
Designer: Ajihis bin Haji Terawin
Printer: Thai British Security Princxxxting, Thailand
Size of Stamp: 30mm x 40mm
Printing Process: Offset
Paper: 102gsm
Perforation: 13 per 2cm