1 Dollar

The British North Borneo Chartered Company was one of the last private commercial entities in the British Empire still authorized to issue its own currency by 1940 — a privilege dating back to its royal charter of 1881. That arrangement ended abruptly when Japanese forces occupied the territory in 1941, and much of the circulating paper stock was either destroyed, lost, or rendered worthless almost overnight.

The 1940 date makes this among the final issues before occupation, which accounts for the relative scarcity of well-used examples — circulation was brief and the subsequent disruption catastrophic for surviving notes.