Catalog
1 Gulden
| Issuer | Republik Maluku Selatan (Republic of the South Moluccas) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
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| Currency | Gulden (1942-1950) |
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| Obverse description | This note is a Japanese Occupation 1 Gulden (Netherlands Indies, 1942) overprinted with a diagonal two-line stamp reading 'REPUBLIK MALUKU SELATAN' in the name of the Republic of the South Moluccas. The underlying note carries the central text 'DE JAPANSCHE REGEERING BETAALT AAN TOONDER EEN GULDEN' with a tropical palm vignette to the upper left, a large numeral '1' to the right, and Japanese characters along the lower margin. Serial number appears in both the upper-left and lower-right areas. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in brown on plain paper, with a central rectangular frame enclosing a large bold numeral '1' set against a lightly guilloche-patterned ground. The frame is flanked on both sides by ornamental numeral '1' cartouches within symmetrical scrollwork borders, and a decorative band of geometric and floral motifs runs along the top and bottom edges. |
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| Comments |
The Republik Maluku Selatan was a short-lived secessionist state that declared independence from Indonesia in April 1950, crushed by Indonesian military force within months. It never achieved international recognition. The "1942" date on this note refers not to the RMS government but to the Japanese occupation-era series it appropriated or replicated — the RMS had no functioning central bank and no independent printing infrastructure.
Attribution of these notes to the RMS remains contested among specialists. Some catalog listings treat them as provisional issues; others consider them fantasy or propaganda pieces produced in exile by RMS supporters in the Netherlands.