British Coin in Brunei

This is the British Trade Dollar coin. It is made out of pure silver and widely circulated in the region.

BUT, this is the most interesting 'but'. Did you know that this was also used in Brunei at the beginning of the 20th century? But did you know that it was banned in 1906 when the British Resident was first placed in Brunei? Did you also know that the Straits Settlement Government (the forerunner to today's Malaysia) also banned this coin even much earlier in 1903?

Interesting questions, right? Why in the world would the British Resident in Brunei banned this trade dollar coin isssued by the British? And for that matter why would the British government banned the coin from its colony at the Straits Settlements? This coin was minted by the British until 1937. So who was it that was using this coin if it was banned from Brunei and the Straits Settlements?

I wrote about this coin and many other foreign coins in Brunei in today's Brunei Times. Get the newspaper if you want to read about it. Or wait until next year when I compiled all this year's articles into Volume 3 of The Golden Warisan. Your choice.