The Malayan state of Kelantan is going to be issuing its own gold coins.Here's a link; http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Thursday/Corporate/BT586346.txt/Article/ (The link is very slow to download). These Kelantanese coins would be of interest to me,as Kelantan is part of the British Commonwealth,as it is an autonomous monarchy within Malaysia,which is in itself a full member of the British Commonwealth. I'm sure that Sterling would be interested in this article. Aidan.
:smile It was on yesterday's major dailies. The Kelantan state govt had planned to intro their own gold n silver coins many months ago as an investment and for circulation(circulating silver n gold coins?)... but the idea was shot down by the federal govt simply becoz Kelantan is still part of Malaysia and thus is not permitted to issue its own currency. So now the gold coins that will be unveiled this Sept 20 are for investment purposes only... like bullion coins, values based on daily spot gold prices. Read the coin specs and details here: (the page faster to load) http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/9/14/nation/15430382&sec=nation I'll keep the forum posted on the designs and images later. After the gold dinar, I guess the silver dirham will be the next to come.
It would be very nice to see what the coins look like.I'd be more than interested in getting a coin from Kelantan,as the closest thing that Kelantan has to banknotes is the Malaysian & British postal orders. Aidan.
Aidan, the Kelantan state issued coins before. They were the pitis tin coins made as early as the 1700s by the Kelantan Sultanate. Those coins were modelled after the chinese cash coins. They are affordable, roughly $10-$15 for a decent specimen, or cost less for lower grades.
Sterling,I have seen ones issued when Kelantan was under the suzerainty of Siam (Thailand) prior to 1909, when Kelantan & 3 other states accepted British protection. These new Kelantanese coins will be historic in the sense that they are the first issue of Kelantan as a British Commonwealth country. I wonder where the gold for the coins will come from.I know that Malaysia is one of the largest exporters of tin. Aidan.
Guys, This is how the new Kelantan state gold dinar looks like. I'll post better pics whenever possible. u're right Aidan... these new dinars does carry the Kelantan coat-of-arms(simplified version).
Sterling,I can guess that you will be buying some Kelantanese Dinars for your collection.I see from the picture that they're dated AH1427,which is actually next year's date (as far as the Christian calendar goes. Aidan.
Does The Coin Exist As for the picture it is described as "DINAR EMAS KELANTAN (KELANTAN GOLD DINAR) and islamic date Muharram 1427
Giladzuc,you have a very good knowledge of Arabic.Is that a native or second language that you speak? In which Christian month does the Islamic month Muharram coincide? It would be good if there is going to issue a silver Dirham - a Kelantanese Dinar,that is! Aidan.
I've contacted some local dealers to assist in getting the dinars for me... as kelantan state is too far from where I live.
About Languages Knowledge My native language is only Hebrew. English (partial knowledge) , Arabic (partial knowledge) , and Malay/Indonesian (partial knowledge) are all learned languages. I read Malay in both scripts : Latin and "Jawi" based on Arabic letters. It is a very important way to decifer old coins of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei. Reading Arabic is very important for reading all Islamic coins.
Giladzuc,you will be pleased to know that it is not only Hebrew & Arabic that are Semetic languages.Maltese is also in the same language family,but it is the odd one out,as it uses a Latin-based alphabet,but with a few unique letters added. Here's a couple of articles; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semetic_languages & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_language . Aidan.
Sterling,did you see the article about the Kelantanese Dinar on Wikipedia? Have you bought any yet? Aidan.
Yup, just read that earlier... i'm still waiting for my local dealer to get a specimen for me, then have a better scan for you. No hurries for me, coz these bullion coins will have unlimited mintages as I heard the kelantan govt encourages employees to take the dinar as partial salaries.
Yes I Know About Maltese . It Is derived from North African spoken dialect of Arabic , BUT after more than 900 years of continuous european rule , Maltese has Latin script with additions because maltese keeps semitic consonats.
I haven't had any news about whether or not Kelantan has introduced a silver Dirham coin.If anyone does have any information,please let us know. Aidan.
In other words they will be exonumia, not coins (until and unless Kelantan becomes independent and is recognized as such by other governments).
Roy,the Malaysian states have very high autonomy.In fact,9 of the states have their own monarchs.In the case of Kelantan,these coins have actually been given official sanction by the Kelantanese Government. I am hoping that this year's edition of Krause's 'Unusual World Coins' will not only list these coins with prices,but actually depict real photos of them. Did you read that Wikipedia article about the Kelantanese Dinar? Aidan.
