Catalog
1/2 Gulden Treasury Note
| Issuer | Government of Netherlands East Indies |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Gulden (decimalized, 1854-1948) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in gray-green, the reverse is dominated by an intricate guilloche border of scrollwork and foliate arabesques enclosing a central oval medallion bearing the crowned supported arms of the Netherlands East Indies. The denomination "EEN HALVE GULDEN" is set in bold lettering along the lower margin, while "NEDERLANDSCH INDIE" arches across the top, flanked by the fractional value numeral ½ at each corner. |
| Reverse lettering | NEDERLANDSCH-INDIË MUNTBILJET WETTIG BETAALMIDDEL EEN HALVE GULDEN (Translation: Netherlands Indies Coin Note Legal Tender Half Gulden) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Topographische Inrichting — the colonial topographic survey office in Batavia — was an unusual choice for currency printing, but the Dutch East Indies administration relied on local production capacity during the years when war and its aftermath disrupted normal supply chains from the Netherlands. The half-gulden denomination in paper was itself a concession to coin shortages; silver fractional coins were being hoarded well into the early 1920s.
P#102 is one of the more modestly produced notes in the NEI series — local press, small format, low face value. Condition tends to suffer from tropical humidity, and paper quality from the Batavia-printed issues generally lags behind the Amsterdam-produced contemporaries.