Catalog
1 Gulden Japanese Occupation
| Issuer | Japanese Government (Occupying Authority) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 140 × 65 mm |
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| Obverse description | Brown on green underprint. Plate letter S prefix at left; a breadfruit tree vignette at left and a coconut palm at right flank the central text panel. Dutch-language legend identifying the Japanese Government as issuing authority appears across the note, with Chinese characters reading 大日本帝國政府 along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown on uncolored paper. The central panel bears a large numeral '1' set within a rectangular guilloche framework, flanked on both sides by bold white numerals '1' overlaid on elaborate scalloped guilloche rosettes. Decorative scroll ornaments appear above and below the central panel, with a fine geometric lathe-work border running the full perimeter. |
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| Comments |
Japan issued occupation currency for the Dutch East Indies almost immediately after the invasion began in early 1942, with these guilder-denominated notes deliberately mirroring the colonial monetary system to ease acceptance among a population that had used Netherlands Indies guilders for decades. The choice to denominate in guilders rather than yen was pragmatic — it sidestepped the need to establish exchange rates at the point of transaction.
The notes carried no issuing bank name, only "De Japansche Regeering" — the Japanese Government — a bluntness unusual for occupation currency, which more typically invents a plausible-sounding local bank. Postwar redemption was denied, leaving enormous quantities worthless overnight in August 1945.