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Height: 65.000 mm ((folded))
Width: 33.000 mm ((folded))
Height: 65.000 mm ((folded))
Width: 33.000 mm ((folded))

CM 2005-9-7-1 and 2005-9-7-2

Coins and Medals

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Chinese New Year

Home-made red money envelopes

These home-made red envelopes were found among the possessions of the late Trevor William Butcher (died 1955), who served in the Royal Army Service Corps in India, Burma, Malaya and Singapore during the 1940s, 50s and 60s. They are some of the earliest ones in the British Museum's collection.

Each envelope was made from a square piece of red paper, folded into a rectangular shape, with a hand-written inscription on the front. Each contains two low value coins: a 1-cent coin and a 5-cent coin issued by the Commissioners of Currency, Malaya, in the 1940s or 1950s.

The envelopes bear very similar inscriptions:
Happiness, year after year!
and
Peace and happiness, year after year!