Brunei's Latest Stamps

Last Friday was 1st August 2008. It was 40 years ago when His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah was coronated as the 29th Sultan of Brunei, a long line of Sultanate which started in the 14th Century.

However according to Chinese records, friendly exchanges between Brunei and China have a long history. The earliest records date back more than 2,000 years ago as early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC to 23 AD) when commodity trade relations existed and official exchanges between the governments during the Tang Dynasty (618 AD to 907 AD). By the time of the Song Dynasty (960 AD to 1270 AD), there were official and non-governmental commercial and cultural exchanges have been officially recorded in the history of China. I got the information from a book called 'The Collection of Historical Documents Related to Bilateral Relations Between China and Brunei Darussalam' edited by Liu Xinsheng, published by World Affairs Press China in 2006.

So if we were to take the lineage of the rulers of Brunei beyond the 13th century, then our rulers have been in existent and we as a country has certainly been in existence for a really really long time.

Anyway, I digress. To mark His Majesty's 40th Coronation Anniversary, the Postal Services Department issued a special set of commemorative stamps. These stamps depict events from the coronation in itself. This is the 4th set of Coronation Anniversary Stamps. The previous ones were to celebrate the 10th Anniversary in 1978, the 20th Anniversary in 1988 and the 30th Anniversary in 1998.

This year's stamps are also available on first day covers as well as on miniature sheets. When I went to the Philatelic Counter yesterday to get my order, I was told that there are two types of miniature sheets. One is the one that you can see here and the other is a $40 miniature sheet which the Postal Services had to return back because due to colour differences. That one will be released as soon as the printers come back with the corrected colours.

Terengganu Borneo-Malaya Exhibition 1922

I managed to acquire another set of the states that showcased their stamps during the Straits Settlement Malaya-Borneo Exhibition of 1922. This time that of Terengganu though the set is complete compared to the other states' collections that I had shown before this.

Kedah Malaya-Borneo Exhibition 1922

In 1922, Brunei joined the Straits Settlements states exhibiting its products in the Borneo-Malaya Expo which was held in Singapore. It is not known whether Brunei actually exhibit its products and who actually went to the expo. But what is known is that during the expo, all the Malaya states plus Singapore, North Borneo (present day Sabah), Sarawak and Brunei all produced overprinted stamps - stamps with the words Malaya Borneo Exhibition. In Brunei's case, it was Malaya Borneo Exhibition 1922. Most of the other states just overprinted with the words 'Malaya Borneo Exhibition'.

These stamps were not in the earlier form accepted as new stamps as they are old stamps with the overprints. But over time, these have been accepted as a special print and are now recognised. I have been trying to collect the other staes ever since I completed the Brunei set a few months earlier. The other day I was able to buy additional stamps for the Kedah set. I am only short of the $1 stamp for the Kedah state. If you happen to have that particular stamp, please let me know.

Iran 2000 Riyals

For those who have been keeping up with what I do would know that I was away in Tehran for a few days. What did I get there?

Plenty of knowledge especially numismatically. The Iranians still keep their old currencies, coins and stamps. I was able to get what I thought was the entire set of the Shah Reza Pahlavi, the former King who lost the throne to the Islamic revolution in Iran. But when I checked back, there was a couple of notes missing. The price was pretty reasonable.

The note I am showing here is not that of the old one. In fact this is the current 2,000 riyals worth around US$0.30. I found it amazing that the note shows the Kaabah. Even the Saudis, it was only recently that the Kaabah appeared on their notes.

US $1 billion?

When I was in Singapore, I found this note and several versions of it including the million dollar. These sold for $2 each. I am not sure of the legality of selling these notes or even buying them.

US Dollars are currently printed denominations are $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. Notes above the $100 denomination ceased being printed in 1946 and were officially withdrawn from circulation in 1969. These notes were used primarily in inter-bank transactions or by organized crime; it was the latter usage that prompted President Richard Nixon to issue an executive order in 1969 halting their use. With the advent of electronic banking, they became less necessary. Notes in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, and $100,000 were all produced at one time but never the $1,000,000 or the $1,000,000,000 which is reproduced above.

ASEAN-Japan Exchange Year 2003

In 2003, ASEAN countries and Japan had an ASEAN-Japan Exchange stamp issue to commemorate the ASEAN-Japan Cooperation. Each ASEAN country was supposed to come up with their own stamp designs.

Japan did a whole set on their own where they depicted one particular scene of each country. If you look at the stamp for Brunei, you would see the dome of SOAS Mosque. This probably marked the first time that the SOAS mosque appearing in another country's stamps. I don't think there has been another ocassion for that.

Kelantan Malaya Borneo Expo 1922

During my trip to Singapore a couple of weeks ago, I went round the philatelic shops there. I did not have anything specific but I just wanted to see if there are any gems that other people have overlooked or something which I have not bought before. I came across a few stamp collections of the Malaya Borneo Exhibition. The Malaya Borneo Exhibition of 1922 was when the Straits Settlement Government in Singapore decided to have a big expo with products from the Federated Malay States, the Unfederated Malay States pus a different sort of federation like Brunei.

Anyway, all the states produced 'new' stamps which are their existing stamps and overprinted that with the words 'Malaya Borneo Expo'. I have the complete Brunei set and now I am slowly builing up on the other states as well. This one is the 'cents' values of the Kelantan set.