10 Facts About Malaysia’s New 3rd Series Coins
^ Image from http://www.bnm.gov.my website.
Today, we welcome the news from Bank Negara that we will be having a new set of coins to replace our current aged design. I took the effort to investigate and compare the newer coins with our existing coins and found some interesting facts. Below are the 10 facts I found interesting and that all Malaysian should know.
10 facts about the 3rd series Malaysian coins
Fact #1: 50 sen shrinks 39.3% in weight.
Fact #2: 5 sen gain 21.9% in weight.
Fact #3: 50 and 20 sen have Nickel Brass content.
Fact #4: 5 sen is the only one gain in diameter with 9.4% gain.
Fact #5: 1 sen is officially retired.
Fact #6: Stainless steels are now our new 5 and 10 sen.
Fact #7: 100% nickel 50 sen is still 20% off its face value.
Fact #8: None of it has metal value that matches it’s face value.
Fact #9: None of it has value higher than the previous coins.
Fact #10: None of it has any precious metals in it.
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^ Image from http://www.bnm.gov.my website.
Fact #1: 50 sen shrinks 39.3% in weight.
Comparing to 2nd series, 50 sen now weighs 5.66g from the previous of 9.33g. That’s 3.67g slimmer.
Fact #2: 5 sen gain 21.9% in weight.
On the other hand, 5 sen weighted 1.72g from previous of 1.41g. That’s an extra 0.31g in weight.
Fact #3: 50 and 20 sen have Nickel Brass content.
50 sen is made from Nickel Brass Clad Copper. 20 sen is made from Nickel Brass. Nickel brass is made of 70% copper, 24.5% zinc and 5.5% nickel.
Fact #4: 5 sen is the only one gain in diameter with 9.4% gain.
Of all new coins, only 5 sen gain in diameter. Previous 5 cent measured in 16.25mm and is being updated to 17.78mm.
^ Image from http://www.bnm.gov.my website
Fact #5: 1 sen is officially retired.
1 sen is no longer in circulations.
Fact #6: Stainless steels are now our new 5 and 10 sen.
Stainless steels replaces Copper Nickel 75/25 in our 5 and 10 sen .
Fact #7: 100% nickel 50 sen is still 20% off its face value.
Among all material used in our newer coins, Nickel is the priciest of all. With that, even if 50 sen is fully made with 100% nickel, it’s still 20% off today’s metal market value due to fact #1 – it’s 39.3% lighter. The new 50 sen is made from Nickel Brass Clad Copper.
Fact #8: None of it has metal value that matches it’s face value.
With today’s metal price, all of the newer coins are at least 50% and more lesser than market price. Nickel is USD$ 10.78/lb, Copper is USD$ 4,40/lb, Zinc is USD$ 1.05/lb and stainless steel is about USD$ 4,500/tonne. Today’s MYR forex against USD is 2.96.
Fact #9: None of it has value higher than the previous coins.
Our previous coins are made from Copper Nickel 75/25 which is 75% copper and 25% nickel. Copper Nickel 75/25 is also known as Cupronickel. The newer coins are either replacing the cupronickel or cutting corners in weight. Therefore, none of the new design has value higher than the older series.
Fact #10: None of it has any precious metals in it.
They might have added gold paint over the 50 sen and 20 sen and silver for 10 sen and 5 sen but there are no precious metals in it at all. Only Kijangs has precious metals in it.
References:
Bank Negara Press Statement: http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=8&pg=14&ac=2298
Reference #1: http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/2011/coins/index.htm
Reference #2: http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/2011/coins/05_faq.htm#q03
Reference #3: http://www.metalprices.com/
Reference #4: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupronickel
Reference #5: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass
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