British North Borneo (now known as Sabah), a former British protectorate and crown colony, occupies the northern tip of the island of Borneo. The island of Labuan, which lies 6 miles off the northwest coast of the island of Borneo, was attached to Singapore settlement in 1907. It became an independent settlement of the Straits Colony in 1912 and was incorporated with British North Borneo in 1946. In 1963 it became part of Malaysia.
From 1882 to 1953, the currency of British North Borneo was the British North Borneo dollar. It was subdivided into 100 cents being equal to 1 Straits dollar. Banknotes were issued by the British North Borneo Company in values of 25 cents, 50 cents, 1 dollar, 5 dollars, 10 dollars and 25 dollars. The British North Borneo banknotes featured the coat of arms or Mount Kinabalu, or both. The design of the banknotes did not change much, however, their physical sizes shrunk over the years.