1 Rupiah

The Gouverneur van Sumatra notes were emergency issues produced during the Indonesian National Revolution, when the newly proclaimed Republic of Indonesia controlled parts of Sumatra while Dutch forces were attempting to reassert colonial authority. Bukittinggi — then called Fort de Kock — served as the de facto capital of Republican Sumatra, and the local administration issued its own currency partly because central supply lines from Java were unreliable and partly to assert administrative legitimacy in the region.

Printing under those conditions was improvised. Paper quality varies considerably across surviving examples, and misaligned impressions are common enough to be considered normal for the series rather than errors.