Malaysian Ringgit
The Malaysian ringgit is the official currency of Malaysia. Malaysian ringgit (the plural of "ringgit" is also "ringgit") are only considered legal tender in Malaysia. The ringgit was introduced in 1967, when it replaced the Malaya and British Borneo dollar as the currency of Malaysia.
The ringgit is subdivided into 100 sen or cents, and the ISO code for the currency is MYR. The official currency symbol is the letters "RM" (for Ringgit Malaysia). This symbol officially replaced the previous unofficial symbols of the dollar sign "$" or "M$". Outside of Malaysia, the complete ISO code "MYR" is most commonly used.
Malaysian Ringgit history
Despite the Ringgit being the official currency of Malaysia only since 1967, the term "ringgit" to refer to currency in Malaysia has been used since the 16th century. In the Malay language, the term "ringgit" means "jagged" and was thought to refer to the serrated edges of silver Spanish dollars that were in circulation. Over time, other currencies that were used in Malaysia, such as the Singapore dollar and the Brunei dollar, also became known as "ringgit", although other currencies such as the US or Australian dollar were referred to as "dolar".
The Malay names of "ringgit" and "sen" became officially adopted as the Malay names for Malaysian currency in 1975, although in English-speaking areas of Malaysia the names "dollar" and "cents" were adopted, and these terms remain in use to this day.
The ringgit officially replaced the previous "official" currency - the Malaya and British Borneo dollar - in 1967 on a like-for-like basis. All coins and notes were also replaced on a like-for-like basis, aside from the $10,000 note. The previous coinage and notes were gradually phased out.
At the time, Malaysia had a currency union with Singapore and Brunei, meaning that all three separate currencies were legal tender on a equitable basis in all three countries. This agreement ended in 1973 when the Malaysia government announced it was withdrawing from the union.
The first series of Malaysian ringgit coins and notes were issued in denominations of coins at 1 (bronze, copper clad steel), 5, 10, 20, 50 sen and 1 ringgit (cupronickel). A new 1 ringgit coin in copper-zinc-tin was issued in 1989. A complete new set was issued in 2012 in which the 1 and 2 sen coins were dropped. The new coins were 5 and 10 sen in stainless steel, the 20 sen in nickel brass and the 50 sen in nickel brass clad copper.
Notes were first issued in 1, 5, 10, 50 and 1,000 ringgit denominations in 1967 and 1968. New notes for 20 and 500 ringgit were issued in 1982, and the 1 ringgit note was dropped in 1993 in favour of the coin, although the note was restored in 2000.
Malaysian Ringgit today
Today, one Malaysian Ringgit is worth around £0.19, or $0.31.
One British Pound is worth RM5.22, while one US dollar is worth around RM3.28.
The Malaysian Ringgit is not a popular currency used by online casinos, and as of October 2014, only three (Bet365, Bodog88 and Pinnacle Sports) allow play using the currency. Malaysian players are still able to play for real money at online casinos by converting their currency into US dollars, which is the "currency of choice" at most online casinos.
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