Malaya 1943 20 cents
This specimen was lot 72109 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Santa Ana, CA, October 2020), where it sold for $60. The catalog description[1] noted, "MALAYA. 20 Cents, 1943. London Mint. PCGS MS-64 Gold Shield. Perfectly struck with frosty white surfaces." The Straits Settlements began as a miscellaneous group of trading stations in Southeast Asia and gradually developed into what is now Malaya. Coinage for the Straits Settlements ceased in 1935 and that of Malaya began in 1939. This type was struck in London in 1943 and 1945. As the colony was then under Japanese occupation, we wonder what the British did with them and the accompanying cent (KM 6), five cents (KM 3a) and ten cents (KM 4a). Coinage ceased in 1950 when the colony was merged with British North Borneo.
Recorded mintage: 10,000,000 plus proofs.
Specification: 5.43 g, 0.500 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-5a.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The October 2020 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
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