The Singapore dollar is the official currency of both Singapore and Brunei. The two countries have an agreement whereby both their currencies are accepted. The Singapore dollar is legal tender in Brunei and the Brunei dollar is legal tender in Singapore.
The Singapore dollar is broken down into cents but the lowest cent value is five cents as this currency is often afflicted by high inflation. The ISO currency code of the Singapore dollar is SGD and the currency symbol is just the regular US dollar sign in the country but outside of the country and on the global market it is written down as S$. In Singapore the currency is colloquially known as the Sing.
The History of the Singapore Dollar
Singapore was a small Malay kingdom for much of its history before it became the modern day country of Singapore. It was founded as Singapore, as a British colony, in 1819 and it remained a colony until it became part of the new federation of Malaysia in 1963, alongside Sarawak and North Borneo. This union only lasted two short years as Singapore became its own independent nation in 1965.
Before being part of Malaysia the colony used the UK-issued ‘straits’ dollar which was also used in North Borneo, Sarawak and Malaysia and this currency was replaced in 1939 with the arrival of the Malayan dollar. There was quite a confusing mess after the breakdown between Malaysia and Singapore and once they were expelled from the union there was huge economic turmoil and Singapore was left without being able to issue its own currency until 1967. 1967 saw the arrival of the Singapore dollar.
The first coins issued for this new currency were for the 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 cents and 1 dollar. The 1 cent coin was phased out by 2003 and is no longer considered legal tender because of its low value. The first banknotes in the currency were issued in 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 10,000 dollar denominations. In 1976 they replaced the S$25 with a S$20 note and a S$2 note was also added in the same year. In 1999 the country decided to drop the S$1 and S$500 notes.
Singapore Dollar Conversion Rates
Today one Singapore dollar is worth approximately £0.50 or $0.72. Conversely £1 is worth S$1.96 and 1 US dollar is worth S$1.37.
There are a few online casinos who currently accept the Singapore dollar and there are some big names in the mix who have chosen to allow this currency at their sites. The number isn’t huge but with reputable names in there it gives players the opportunity to be flexible with their currency choice. An alternative for players in countries where the Singapore dollar is legal tender is to open an e-Wallet account and this will allow for their Sings to be turned into US dollars and easily used at almost any casino online. It is also possibly to exchange Singapore dollars for UK sterling or the Euro with many e-Wallet providers too.