Here's another article about the Kelantanese gold coins;
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...&sec=nation .
We had a similar situation over here in New Zealand back in late 1999 in which the Reserve Bank of New Zealand gave approval to a private organisation called the Chatham Islands Note Corporation to issue notes.The interesting thing is that the notes were not allowed to be regarded as legal tender,but negotiable tender,which meant that a trader didn't have to accept them as payment.There were 2 issues of notes,but the C.I.N.C. tried to issue coins,but the R.B.N.Z. took an extremely dim view of this.
The Kelantanese situation is slightly different,as Kelantan is a semi-independent state within Malaysia with its own monarch & legislature,whereas,the Chatham Islands are not self-governing.
The Kelantanese Dinar was intended to circulate side by side with the Malaysian Ringgit,just like the Chatham Islands Dollar circulated along with the New Zealand Dollar.
I wonder how many Dirhams will make up the Kelantanese Dinar.I can guess that there will be 1,000 Dirhams in a Kelantanese Dinar.
The new Kelantanese coins will be the first issue since Kelantan came under British protection in 1909,which is why they would be of interest to me.
The names 'Dirham' & 'Dinar' have been chosen to reflect the fact that a majority of the Kelantanese people are Muslims,& that the Islamic Empire of the Caliphs was once an economic & political power in its own right.
I wonder where the gold will come from for the Kelantanese coins.Malaysia isn't known as a gold producer,but it is more famous for its exports of tin.
Aidan.