5 Ringgit

Bank Negara Malaysia was established in 1959, but the country had been using the shared Malaya and British Borneo dollar until 1967, when Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei finally broke their currency union. This note belongs to the first independent Malaysian series — the "Agong" series — issued the same year the split took effect. Singapore and Malaysia had agreed in principle to separate currencies but retained a currency interchangeability arrangement that lasted until 1973, meaning early examples of this note technically circulated alongside Singapore dollars at par.

Bradbury Wilkinson handled Malaysian printing from the outset of independence. The long print run spanning nearly a decade reflects the absence of any domestic security printing capability at the time.