140. Malaysia 20 sen 1982 UNC/BU TONED

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

        While scrutinising some coins few weeks ago, I spotted this piece among the coins. Nothing special about this coin. Not a keydate issue particularly, nor an error coin.

     This coin shines among others. With its soothing yellowish tones, I think this coin's grade falls between UNC and BU. Too bad the tones cannot be captured well by my scanner.

     By the way, how come this nice, uncirculated coin with nice tones survives the ravages of time, weather and handling, for about  more than 20 years?

Category	Coin > Malaysia
Country Of Origin	Malaysia
Date	1982
Condition	UNC to BU with yellowish luster
Denomination	20 Sen
Shape	Round
Weight	5.65g
Diameter	23.5mm
Thickness	-
Composition	Copper-Nickel
Population	97 905 000 pieces
Reference	KN5
Mint	Royal Mint of Llantrisant
Category	Normal Circulation Coinage
Demonetized	No, but currently being phased out
Engraver/Designer	- / Geoffrey Colley
Designer's Initial	GC at the bottom right of the Parliament Building on obverse
Mint Mark	No
Variety	Not exist
Edge	Milled edge / Reeded edge
Obverse	Parliament House of Malaysia and a crescent moon and star, representing Malaysia's Concept of Parliamentary Democracy and Islam as the National Religion.
Reverse	Hibiscus, the National Flower, with the word "MALAYSIA" and the year of minting and denomination, spaced by a dot.
Extra Note

125. Malaysia 20 sen 1970

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: close up image

   Another keydate coin of Malaysia. With official population of only 1.054million, I bet that you need some real luck in finding this coin among your loose coins.

  Is this a die variety of 1970 20 sen coin? I notice that the G.C designer's initial is missing. My other pieces, which are circulated, show quite obvious designer's initial. Upon further investigation, I think I can see a part of "G' there, can you see it?

120. Malaysia 10 SEN 1994 Semi Keydate

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

     Another semi keydate coin. Collecting semi keydate coin is a good way to start collecting. It requires only checkings through your loose coins, and sometime cracking your piggy bank.

    This coin was given to me by my junior, Aini Yusnira. I did not expect her to remember what years are to be collected, but still she manage to find one.

    She asked me why do I want this coin? The reason I want this coin is because this coin is hard to get. It is as simple as that. The degree of rarity of coins usually is being termed with words such as scarce, rare or unique. This is because the mintage of 1994 10 sen coins is only about 7millions, whereas the highest mintage of 10 sen coin is about 132million of year 1990 and 32million for year 1989.

   I hope I will receive more keydate coins from my fellow friend, perhaps a 1971 10 cent! Who knows?

110. Malaysia 5 sen 1997 Semi Key-date Coin

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

    I was having my lunch at McDonalds today. The order was a large set of Big N' Tasty. Being an environmental friendly person, I just love green and a Coca-Cola "Can" glass of green color lured me to add an icecream so that I can have that glass. The total amount was RM14.95 so I handed RM15 to the cashier. She returned back my balance of 5 sen. To her, the 5 sen is a mere 5 sen worth piece of metal, but to me, in a collector perspective, the 5 sen worths ... at least 50sen. So did I just having a McDonald Lunch Set at a lower price?

    Actually, this 5 Sen coin dated 1997 is a semi key-date coin for Malaysia Bunga Raya Series. About 7million had been minted, and the 7million is quite low compared to 83million of year 1994, the highest mintage, and 20million of year 1989, the second lowest mintage. So, this coin is just a little bit harder to get compared to her other siblings.

    Happy coins-checking!

107. Malaysia 10 Sen 1971

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

Country of Origin: Malaysia

Date: 1971 

Denomination: 10 Cents / 10 Sen

Shape: Round
Orientation: Coin Allignment

Weight: 2.82g

Diameter: 19.4mm

Thickness: -

Composition: Copper-Nickel

Population: 32,236 pieces

Reference: KN4

Mint: Kilang Wang Bank Negara Malaysia, Shah Alam

Category: Normal Circulation Coin

Demonetized: No

Engraver/Designer: Geoffrey ColleyDesigner's Intial: Yes, "GC" at the bottom right of the parliament building on obverse
Variety: -

Obverse: Parliament House of Malaysia and a crescent moon and start representing Malaysia's Concept of Parliamentary Democracy and Islam as the National Religion.

Reverse: The value "10" in the middle, with hisbiscus flowers at the left and right of value. Word "Malaysia" and the year of minting and "SEN".

Edge: Plain

A circulated 10 sen 1971! Rare coin isn't? 

69. Malaysia 2011 Coins

image 1: 20 sen 2011

image 2: 10 sen 2011

   Latest coins for circulation in Malaysia. Haven't seen a 50 and 5 sen yet, do you?

41. Collecting Terminology - KEY DATE

"Coins that are considered scarce due to low mintage or low surviving specimens for that date (and possibly mint mark). Prices are higher on scarce issues, and they are harder to find." coinresource.com

     Quote above is self-explanatory. Key date coins is a must for every collector especially for those who are into coins. It's a real please if you can complete a series with their respective keys. Even our current circulating coins (in your pocket!) has its own key dates.


    I don't know about other collectors, but every coins that fell into my hands were never had a chance to escape my strict checking. What if I stumble upon a 10 cent 1971? Absolutely it will be among the happiest day in my collecting life. 


   Why key date coins worth more than ordinary coins? The most obvious reason is that they are simply limited in number compared to other dates, hence harder to be found. Let say you have a 200 pieces of Malaysia 50 Sen, if you are lucky enough, maybe you will found only one Malaysia 50 Sen dated 1995. Try it if you don't believe me.



    Get excited? Okay this is the list for you to look for in your coins. If you are not a collector, but happen to have these coins, do inform me so that I can publish it (with the photo and your name in it) in my blog. Cheers!




1.  50 Sen Malaysia - 1969, 1995
2. 20 Sen Malaysia - 1970, 1978, 1994
3. 10 Sen Malaysia - 1971, 1994, 2003




footnote: I will update later a proper table for list of key dates coins.


Appendix: photo of some of my recently discovered key date coins.

35. Enough with money! Now let's us study flower.. err. FLOWER?

    Ops. Sorry again, images of coins. But don't fret, I'm keeping my promise. For this post we shall study about flower. heheh

     Do you know what kind of flower on our current coins? The flower on the coins is Hibiscus rosasinensis, also famously known to the local as Bunga Raya. Bunga Raya was declared as Malaysia's National Flower on 26th JULY 1960 by our first Prime Minister, Tuanku Abdul Rahman Al-Haj. Bunga Raya was chosen from quite a lot of competitors from other flowers such as Bunga Cempaka, Bunga Kenanga, Bunga Mawar, Bunga Teratai, Bunga Tanjung and Bunga Melur because due to its appealing appearance, bright colors and also the commonly 5 petals which also symbolizes The 5 Rukun Negara of Malaysia.

     And recently when I went through my piggy bank to check for Malaysia 1971 10 Sen, I noticed different patterns of flower in this set of 50 cents. Apparently the flower is getting prettier year after year!

of year 2000

of year 2002

of year 2007

See differents on those flowers? I suspect one of the coins is fake, but can't make sure which one it is. Someone who has expertise in flowers help me?

34. The Crying 50 Cent

50, are you crying?

close up, see the tears?

     This is an example of nice specimen of coin of Malaysia. Some people would like to call it "extra metal" because obviously there is extra metal on the coin. But more accurately, this specimen could be better called as "die chip error coin".

    Die chip error happen when the die itself, of which is the negative image of the coin, chipped off from the die, due to rustiness or worn. Then this will lead to creation of void space of the die. Later during the striking phase of the coin, coinage metal flows into the void space creating a small raised lump on the coin. Ting Ting, have you heard of Malaysia 50 Sen Extra Dot? Specimen here have 2 big lumps which can be seen by naked eyes. 

    This phenomenon is a mechanical error, but not a die variety. But still, its a nice specimen to possess of. I'm letting this specimen go for a better love and appreciation to a collector friend. Hope you like your new owner, mate!

    

    I wonder how many pieces of coins were minted from this chipped die. Do you own one of these kinds?

    

3. Malaysia Coin 2010

   Showing here the latest set of Malaysia's coin, dated 2010. Some says that next year there will be new design for our coin. For me the current design is too simple, they should improvise it by designing  more attractive coins.