Last updated: September 2026

What currency does Brunei use?

Brunei Darussalam uses the Brunei dollar, abbreviated B$ or BND. The Brunei Darussalam Central Bank issues it, and under the Currency Order, 2004 only the central bank may issue Brunei notes and coins. The bank issues three kinds of currency: circulation notes, circulation coins, and commemorative notes and coins.

The bank sets a standard for what stays in circulation. A note that does not meet the standard is returned to the central bank and replaced with one in better condition, and coins are handled the same way (Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, Currency Issuance and Management).

One denomination has been taken off the issuance list. The central bank announced that it would cease issuing the B$10,000 to banks in Brunei Darussalam with effect from 2 November 2020, citing the risks associated with financial crime and with the counterfeiting of high denomination currency notes.

What money did Brunei use before the Brunei dollar?

Malaya and British Borneo dollars. Those notes circulated in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore until 12 June 1967, when the Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya and British Borneo handed over its powers to issue currency and the three territories began issuing their own money through the Brunei Currency Board, the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore, and Bank Negara Malaysia.

Brunei's first issue landed the same year and it was a small one. The 1967 currency issuance consisted of a paper note series in five denominations, BND1, BND5, BND10, BND50 and BND100, and a coin series of five denominations, 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents. Both carried the portrait of Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien ibni Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam II, the 28th Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, and the reverse of the 1967 notes depicted the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque (Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam, 50 Years of Brunei Currency, Part 1).

That mosque has never left. It is on the reverse of the first notes of 1967, it forms the clear window on the modern BND1, and it is the cameo inside the transparent window of the newest series. If you want one image to hang a Brunei collection on, it is that one. The same 1967 handover created the Singapore dollar, which is why our Singapore banknotes hub starts on the same date.

Can Brunei and Singapore notes be used in both countries?

Yes, by agreement. The Currency Interchangeability Agreement was signed on 12 June 1967, originally between Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and Malaysia, and Brunei and Singapore have maintained it ever since. It allows the Brunei dollar and the Singapore dollar to be accepted as customary tender when circulating in the country in which they are not legal tender.

The mechanics are set out by both central banks. The Brunei Darussalam Central Bank and the Monetary Authority of Singapore accept from banks the currency notes and coins issued by the other and exchange them into their own currency without charge, and banks in both countries also accept for deposit, from the public and from businesses, currency issued by the other country without charge. The Monetary Authority of Singapore adds that businesses and members of the public should not be concerned about accepting payments in Brunei currency (Monetary Authority of Singapore).

Brunei's central bank credits the arrangement with helping to facilitate tourism, trade and investment activity between the two countries, and notes that 12 June 2017 marked its fiftieth anniversary (Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam, Currency Interchangeability Agreement). For collectors the practical result is that Brunei notes turn up in Singapore change and Singapore notes turn up in Brunei change, which is why the two countries are so often collected as a pair.

What were Brunei's paper banknote series?

Three, plus one commemorative. The first series of 1967 was followed by a second in 1972 and a third in 1989, and a single Silver Jubilee denomination joined them in 1992. Each change of series is also a change of portrait or of theme, so a paper Brunei note can be placed within seconds.

The second series followed the accession of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei Darussalam. His portrait appeared on the second coin series in 1970 and on the note series of 1972, which added two new denominations with new reverse designs while every other denomination kept the reverse it had before (Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam, 50 Years of Brunei Currency, Part 1).

The third series of 1989 is the one most collectors picture when they think of Brunei paper. It carried a new portrait of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam on the front, and on the back local scenery with Kampong Ayer as the main theme. It also introduced the BND10,000, the highest denomination of Brunei currency. In 1992, to mark the Silver Jubilee of His Majesty's accession to the throne, a limited edition BND25 paper note was issued as legal tender alongside the existing denominations.

The paper notes share a family of security features that the central bank still documents: a watermark portrait of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, front to back registration where motifs printed on both sides align when the note is held to the light, a windowed security thread that reads NBD 100 or NBD 500, multi-layered latent images the bank calls Lift Twin, one of them reading Brunei in Jawi script, and a national crest that appears under ultraviolet light (Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, Security Features).

When did Brunei switch to polymer banknotes?

Polymer notes were first introduced in Brunei Darussalam in 1996, in BND1, BND5 and BND10. The switch then ran denomination by denomination over more than twenty years: BND50 and BND100 in 2004, BND500 and BND1,000 in 2006, BND20 in 2007, a new BND1, BND5 and BND10 in 2011, and BND50 in 2017 (Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, Currency in Circulation).

The 2011 notes are the ones worth studying, because the central bank describes each of them feature by feature. On the BND1 the Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Mosque and the ceremonial barge form a complex clear window built around a shadow image and a vignette of the numeral 1. On the BND5 the Lapau, the Royal Ceremonial Hall, forms the window. On the BND10 it is the Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque. All three carry a shadow image of His Majesty's portrait with the initials HB, a G-Switch optical feature that alternates between gold and blue as the angle changes, and raised Braille printing of the denomination.

The BND10,000 belongs to the same polymer generation and is described in the same way: a local motif forms the clear window, the pattern around it alternates between purple and green at different angles, the initials HB are embossed in the middle of the window, and NEGARABRUNEIDARUSSALAM is printed in microtext that needs a magnifying glass. Our comparison of polymer versus paper banknotes explains why so many tropical issuers made this move.

What is the New Family Banknotes Series?

The New Family Banknotes Series is Brunei's current issue, announced in 2025 in five denominations, BND1, BND5, BND10, BND100 and BND500. The Monetary Authority of Singapore records that it entered circulation on 9 March 2026. Existing banknotes remain legal tender and continue to circulate alongside it.

The central bank set out what changed. The series carries upgraded security features in line with developments in the currency industry, and it retains the portrait of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah on the BND1, BND5, BND10 and BND100, and the portrait of Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien on the BND500 (Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, Announcement of the New Family Banknotes Series).

Two changes stand out. The first is a word. The series reaffirms that the official unit of currency under the Currency Order, 2004 is the dollar, and the term Ringgit has been replaced with Brunei Dollars across all denominations. Trade press describing the new notes puts it plainly: these notes are denominated in Brunei dollars only, while preceding issues also expressed in ringgit continue to be legal tender (BanknoteNews).

The second is a tactile system. The bank introduced a feature it calls DOMINO, raised dots in the lower right corner of each new banknote, with a different arrangement on every denomination so that visually impaired users can identify a note by touch. The rest of the security package is a showcase: a vertical see-through window carrying a cameo of the Sultan Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Mosque, a small window shaped like a bunga tabor on the lower values and a daun lukut on the BND500, colour shifting AURORA and SPARK Live inks, a METALIX metallic sheen, and hidden designs that fluoresce white under ultraviolet light while the national crest glows red (Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, Security Features).

Brunei banknote series at a glance

The table follows the central bank's own currency in circulation list, with portraits and reverse themes taken from the bank's published descriptions. Where a portrait is not described in a central bank source it is left out rather than guessed.

Read the table from the bottom up and you get the shape of the country's currency: a single mosque that keeps reappearing, two sultans, and a slow, denomination by denomination move from cotton paper to polymer that took the better part of thirty years.

What Brunei commemorative banknotes are there?

The best known is a pair rather than a single note. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Currency Interchangeability Agreement, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and Mr Lee Hsien Loong, then Prime Minister of Singapore, jointly launched a set of two $50 commemorative polymer notes at a ceremony at the Singapore Istana on 5 July 2017: one Brunei Darussalam $50 and one Singapore $50 (Monetary Authority of Singapore).

The two notes were deliberately made as a matched set. They were jointly designed by Abdul Ajihis Haji Terawih, Eng Siak Loy and Weng Ziyan, are predominantly gold in colour, measure 158 mm by 75 mm, and share the same design elements and layout. The front carries the anniversary logo with the Simpur, a prominent flower found in Brunei Darussalam, beside the Vanda Miss Joaquim, Singapore's national flower, both in full bloom. The back reflects ties between the two countries in areas such as defence, education and tourism. At that size they sit comfortably among the bigger modern notes covered in our list of the largest banknotes by size.

The security feature on the pair won an award in its own right. Both notes carry an optical feature depicting Brunei Darussalam's Istana Nurul Iman and Singapore's Istana, using nanoparticles to create diffractive and colour shifting effects visible to the unaided eye, and it took the Best Applied Security Product category at the Excellence in Holography Awards 2017 along with a commendation for innovation in holographic technology.

Beyond the pair there are numismatic formats: one million Brunei Darussalam $50 commemorative notes were made available for public exchange at face value, and limited edition sets included identical numbered notes carrying the special prefix CIA, a Brunei 3 in 1, a Brunei 8 in 1 and a Brunei 40 in 1 uncut sheet.

How do you start collecting Brunei banknotes?

Collect Brunei and Singapore together. The two currencies were born on the same day, they have been linked by the same agreement ever since, and the 2017 commemorative pair was designed to be held side by side. A shelf that runs Brunei next to Singapore tells a story that neither country tells alone.

If you would rather build a Brunei only set, work by substrate. The polymer notes from 1996 onward are current, documented and approachable, and the 2011 trio of BND1, BND5 and BND10 is the natural first target because the central bank publishes every security feature on all three. The paper series of 1967, 1972 and 1989 are the historical lane, and the 1992 Silver Jubilee BND25 is the single most distinctive denomination the country has issued.

Watch for dates and small varieties. Trade press records new printings of existing Brunei designs identified only by a changed date at the lower right of the back, such as a 2013 date with embossed dots added at upper left front, a 2016 date with prefixes D/36 to D/41, and later 2019, 2020 and 2022 dates on other denominations (BanknoteNews). Those are the differences that separate two notes that look identical, the same discipline described in our page on star notes and replacement notes.

Learn the grading ladder before you spend. Grades run from Uncirculated down through AU, XF, VF, F, VG and G, and the certified market uses a 1 to 70 scale: our banknote grading guide explains it, and graded versus raw banknotes covers when third party certification earns its cost. The banknote glossary defines prefixes and replacements, Pick numbers explains catalog references, and how to store banknotes matters in an equatorial climate. Two neighbouring hubs read well alongside this one: Indonesia banknotes and Philippines banknotes, and portraits on banknotes covers how countries choose the faces.

Where can you buy Brunei banknotes?

Buy from an established dealer that authenticates every note, documents where it came from, and stands behind it in writing. Prices far below every other seller, vague sourcing and no returns are the signals to walk away from.

Planet Banknote sources notes direct from mints, central banks and authorized distributors rather than reselling anonymous lots. Browse the current selection through the banknotes by country directory, where availability changes with what has been sourced. If you are weighing a certified note against a raw one, PMG versus PCGS explains what each grading service puts on the label. Our guide to buying world banknotes safely and how to collect world banknotes cover the rest.

Planet Banknote is a family-owned dealership in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 2021. Every note is sourced direct from mints, central banks, and authorized distributors, inspected through our Planet Banknote Verified process, and ships with a free Certificate of Authenticity. US orders ship free via USPS Priority, and every order includes a free bonus gift.