Currency Gallery What? by Zaki Mohidin
Ever wonder how a B$10,000 looks like in real life? Or where our polymer notes come from? Or even what your parents/grandparents are talking about when they’re going on about Duit Pisang masa zaman Jepun?Then head down to the Currency Gallery at Brunei Currency & Monetary Board, Ministry of Finance where you can find an interesting exhibition on the history and development of Brunei currency from the barter trading to our award winning polymer notes. Tekan sini to get a taste of what to expect at the gallery.
For me who have never seen a B$10,000 note before it was quite amazing. It’s huge! Let’s just say it won’t ever fit my wallet, but it might fit in well inside your girlfriend’s Luella bag though.
Still pondering about where our polymer notes come from? Well they are printed by Note Printing Australia since 1996 for most importantly its security features (until today there are no known cases of counterfeit polymer notes) and its durability and quality. So far we have $1, $5, $10, $50 and $100 in polymer notes. They even have those printing plates on show at the gallery.
Do you know that the $25 notes (commemorating the Silver Jubilee to the Throne of His Majesty in 1992) are in normal circulation just like any of our other notes? When I knew about this I stopped collecting them whenever I can get my hands on them. If you find it hard to change for them at the banks, you can just change for them at the Currency Board. P.S. They can also change your Brunei currency to Singapore currency and vice versa.
Lastly before I forget, for those who collects special edition coins/notes or who is interested in purchasing them, you can do so at the Currency Board and also at Arts & Handicraft Centre. I even heard that they sell them at Hua Ho but I haven’t checked it out yet. Maybe some of you can comment on that.
[Today's entry is written by Zaki Mohidin, today's guest blogger.]
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8:30am - 2:00pm
On the plane I was telling them about the restrictions on the import of foreign currency and how the former chief minister of Selangor was caught.
One of my buddies looked worried so we asked him what was wrong. He pulled out a wad of B$10k notes from his pocket and said he was worried he'd get caught.
Apparently this guy (rich git that he is) never carries a wallet, always pays in cash, and carries no credit cards. Before our trip he withdrew four pieces of those huge notes!
So two of us ended up with 10k each in our pockets while he pocketed the other two!
I must say, that note felt preeetttyyy good in my pocket heheheh...