Singapore Dollar
The Singapore Dollar is the official currency of Singapore and Brunei. The Singapore Dollar is legal tender in Brunei, just as the Brunei Dollar is legal tender in Singapore, due to an agreement between the two countries. The Singapore Dollar is split into cents, although no coins lower than five cents are issued due to the high inflation of the currency. One cent would currently be worth half a British penny, or an eighth of a US cent.
The ISO code for the currency is SGD. The currency symbol used is the same sign as for the US dollar, although outside of Singapore and Brunei 'S$' is frequently used to distinguish it from other dollar-based currencies. In Singapore the currency is commonly known as the 'Sing'.
Singapore Dollar history
For much of its history, Singapore was a small Malay kingdom on the island which is now modern Singapore. It was founded as a British colony in 1819, and remained so until it become part of the new federation of Malaysia in 1963, along with North Borneo and Sarawak. Singapore became a nation in its own right when it was kicked out of Malaysia in 1965.
Prior to joining Malaysia, the colony used the UK-issued "Straits" dollar along with North Borneo, Sarawak and Malaysia until 1939 when it was replaced by the Malayan dollar. The monetary union between Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei which saw Singapore use the Malaysian Ringgit as currency broke down upon Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia, but such was the economical turmoil Singapore was left in after its banishment, it wasn't able to issue its own currency until 1967.
The first set of coins issued in 1967 were for the 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 cent and 1 dollar. The 1 cent coin ceased production in 2003 and is no longer legal tender, even though it is reckoned that as many as 6.71 million remain in circulation.
The first notes issued were for 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500, 100 and 10,000 dollars. The $25 note was replaced by the $20 note in 1976, and then dropped in 1984, the same year in which the $2 note was added. The $1 and $500 notes were dropped in 1999.
Singapore Dollar today
Today, one Singapore Dollar is worth around £0.49, or $0.80.
One British Pound is worth S$2.05, while one US dollar is worth around S$1.28.
There are very few online casinos that accept Singapore Dollars - currently, only BetVictor, Bet365, Betfred and Ladbrokes, although some sites state that All Slots Casino, Sky Vegas, Betfair and 10Bet also do. However, it is possible for players in countries who use the Singapore Dollar as their currency to open e-Wallet accounts that use US dollars as the base currency, or to use credit cards that allow for the conversion of Singapore Dollars to US dollars, UK sterling, or other currencies frequently used by online casinos.