The Kijang coins were associated with Che Siti Wan Kembang, a woman ruler of Kelantan. It is not clear when she ruled the state.

One historian places her in the 14th century while another puts her in the 17th century.

According to Malay folklore, some Arab traders presented a Kijang to the legendary queen. She became very fond of the animal and thereafter had the Kijang inscribed on the ancient coins.

Another version on the origin of the Kijang coins was linked to the influence of Saivite Hinduism. This is because the earliest issue of Kijang coins resembled the Indian humped-back bull. The bull motif was depicted in the ancient Hindu coins, circulated in the northern Malay states.

According to the legend, the Nandi bull appeared in the hinterland of Palembang, Indonesia with a young prince on its back. The bull then vomited a kind of ectoplasm. Out of that, a supernatural being materialised and declared the young prince as King.

The legendary prince was regarded as the first ancestor of the royal house of Malacca.

The story of the bull's vomiting may be seen in some of the Kijang coins. The ectoplasm in the earlier issue of Kijang coins is ornate compared to the later issues where the ectoplasm was only a straight flow appearing like a ball and chain.

Coin historians detect a gradual change from the bull motif to that of a Kijang, which is seen in the Bank Negara Malaysia's (Central Bank of Malaysia's) logo. the neck is that of the barking deer, but the feet, the horns, and the tail are those of a bull.

The story of Che Siti Wan Kembang can perhaps help explain the transformation of the bull to the Kijang.