Has anyone ever been to the Menara Maybank Numismatic Museum in KL?

Longacre · October 24, 2010 10:20PM

Next Monday evening, I jet off to Kuala Lumpur for work. I have never been to KL before, and I posted a thread a few weeks back asking if there was anything of numismatic interest there. Some people responded with some good information on Singapore (which I will also be visiting), but nothing really for KL.

Undaunted, I had one of my secretaries purchase a copy of the Lonely Planet guide, and I asked her to review it for me and summarize items of interest. To my delight, she recently handed me the report that she worked on over the weekend, and highlighted the following entry:

"On the ground floor of the Menara Maybank, the Numismatic Museum has a display of Malaysian currency, including early Chinese "coin trees". While Europeans preferred to strike coins, the Chinese cast their coins in moulds, leaving a tree of washer shaped coins attached to metal "branches". The coins were then snapped off and carried around looped on strings."

Has anyone ever been to this museum? It looks to be close to the undisclosed hotel I will be staying at, and I have a free weekend in KL before I need to get to Singapore, so I am looking for things to do.

rmpsrpms · October 24, 2010 11:37PM

Ahh, how I wish I had a weekend in KL to spend on numismatics! I've been a Malaysia / Straits Settlements / BNB / Sarawak collector (but not really Singapore) collector ever since living there in the mid-90's. However, I've never spent time in KL. Spent most of my time in Penang, with many trips and weekends in Singapore, so my knowledge of KL is limited. However, I can recommend a couple items:

Do you own Steven Tan's price guide? It has a lot of sponsoring dealers in there and is a who's who of the peninsular dealers. Unfortunately my copies are boxed so I can't give you a list, but my latest is at least 5 years old so a new copy would be better anyway.

You should go to the Sunday Flea Market at Amcorp Mall. Here's the link to one of the dealer's sites:

http://www.pewter-pleasure.com/amcorp-mall.html

There are a number of coin and currency dealers that show up there every week.

I don't know if there is an equivalent shopping district in KL such as Singapore's The Arcade, but I bet the dealers at Amcorp Mall can point you in the right direction.

Can I go with you ????

rmpsrpms · October 24, 2010 11:52PM

Here is the link to a seller of Tan's price guide:

http://www.lelong.com.my/1769-18th-malaysia-singapore-brunei-book-coin-banknote-33632400-2009-05-Sale-P.htm

and here is a link to an article on Steven Tan

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/2/8/sundaymetro/2953293&sec=sundaymetro

He runs a shop in KL:

International Stamp and Coin, 2.4 & 2.5, Pertama Shopping Complex, 2nd Floor, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, 50100, Kuala Lumpur. To contact Tan, call 03-2692 6117

Some folks malign Tan's guide for out of date pricing, but it is a nice, complete guide and has been my standard reference for 15 years.

Ray

Longacre · October 25, 2010 12:02AM

Ray--

Thanks for the info! I will check out the links. I am looking forward to the trip, and I hear the food in Malaysia isn't half bad either.

rmpsrpms · October 25, 2010 12:15AM

The food in KL is an interesting mixture. Penang has more Thai influence, and a few unique dishes like Penang Assam Laksa (one of my favorites, spicy fish soup). In KL there is a lot of Nyonya influence, which is a blend between the local fare and the Portuguese settler's food. Southwest of KL is Malacca, which was a Portuguese port. But you also have Indian (locally modified), Thai, Indonesian, and others in KL to choose from. Here is what I would eat if I went with you:

Congee and toppings for breakfast
Hawker Stalls for lunch: Poh Piah, Char Kuey Teow and Chicken Satay with Fresh Orange Juice
Nyonya for dinner Saturday (I can't recommend), Indonesian for Sunday (Gado Gado, Beef Satay, Beef Rendang)
Hawker Stalls for late night shopping (Ice Kacang, Fresh Sugar Cane Juice)

I would come back from that trip 5lbs heavier!

Ray

MsMorrisine · October 25, 2010 1:11AM

thie thread is worrthless without pictures?

Has anyone ever been to the Menara Maybank Numismatic Museum in KL?

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