Catalog
1/2 Roepiah Japanese Occupation
| Issuer | Japanese Imperial Government (Dai Nippon Teikoku Seihu) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
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| Reference(s) | P#128 |
| Obverse description | Gray-black letterpress on light tan underprint. A stylized dragon vignette appears at left, with the plate letter prefix S incorporated into the serial numbering. Bilingual inscriptions in Japanese characters and romanized Malay are arranged across the face, flanking the denomination numeral. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | DAI NIPPON TEIKOKU SEIHU SETENGAH ROEPIAH SP 府政國帝本日大 1/2 (Translation: Imperial Government of Japan Half roepiah Imperial Government of Japan) |
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| Comments |
The Japanese military administration issued a unified occupation currency for the Dutch East Indies rather than multiple regional scrips — a deliberate policy of monetary consolidation across the archipelago. This half-roepiah belongs to the final 1944 series printed in Japan, by which point Allied submarine warfare was severely disrupting shipping routes to the occupied territories, and distribution of freshly printed notes to field administrators had become logistically precarious.
The series is notably common in high grades precisely because significant quantities never reached circulation before the August 1945 surrender.