Malaysia uses ‘ringgit’, Singapore uses ‘dollar’. Brunei uses both. What’s the story behind the word ‘ringgit’?

The word ‘ringgit’ appeared for the first time on the 5 dollar banknote of the Oriental Banking Corporation of Singapore as early as 1849. On Malay coins, the jawi script for ‘satu ringgit’ was first used on the reverse of the British Trade Dollar in 1895.

It can confidently be said, therefore, that the word ‘ringgit’, denoting a unit of Malaysian or Brunei currency, had been in use in this area for at least 200 years.

Find out more about the history of the ringgit in The Daily Brunei Resouces blog.

Tags: Ringgit, Dollar, money