Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) Profile

Currency name
Currency code
Currency symbol

RM

Subunit
1/100,  sen (cents)
Coins freq used
5 sen, 10 sen, 20 sen, 50 sen
Coins rarely used
 
Banknotes freq used
RM1, RM5, RM10, RM20, RM50, RM100
Banknotes rarely used
 
Central bank
Bank Negara Malaysia (www.bnm.gov.my)
Currency users
Currency notes

Nicknames of sen: 10 cents= 1 jiao (角) or 1 mao(毛); 1 cent= 1 fen(分)

Currency user list

Malaysian ringgit users

The Malaysian ringgit is the currency of Malaysia, a federal constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia.

The Federation of Malaysia was established on September 16, 1963, with the members of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore, which were all independent from the United Kingdom. Their independence dates were Malaya on August 31, 1957, Sarawak on July 22, 1963, and North Borneo (Sabah) and Singapore both on August 31, 1963. Singapore left the federation and became an independent country on August 9, 1965. Present Malaysia consists of two similarly sized regions: Peninsular Malaysia or West Malaysia (formerly Malaya) and Malaysian Borneo or East Malaysia (formerly Sarawak and North Borneo <Sabah>).

Malaysian ringgit history

The Malaysian ringgit, formerly known as the Malaysian dollar, was introduced on June 12, 1967, replacing the Malaya and British Borneo dollar at par. It was originally valued at 1 GBP = 8.57 MYR. The Malaysian ringgit (dollar) was also exchangeable at par with the Singapore dollar (SGD, introduced in 1967) and Brunei dollar (BND, introduced in 1967) until May 8, 1973.

The currency names "ringgit" and its subdivision "sen" were officially adopted in August 1975. They were previously known as "dollar" and "cent". The Malaya and British Borneo dollar (ringgit) was used in Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo, and Brunei from 1953 to 1967.

Malaysian ringgit coins and banknotes

The Malaysian ringgit is subdivided into 100 sen (cents).

Currently in circulation, coins are in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 sen, and banknotes are in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 Ringgit.