10 000 Rupiah

This note was introduced in 1998, the year Indonesia's economy collapsed under the weight of the Asian financial crisis — the rupiah lost roughly 80% of its value against the dollar in under twelve months, and the IMF bailout package came attached to austerity conditions that triggered the riots ending Suharto's 32-year presidency. A 10,000 rupiah note that could buy a reasonable meal in early 1997 was worth a fraction of that by mid-1998.

Perum Peruri, the state security printing works established in Karawang in 1971, has handled Indonesian banknote production throughout this series. The relatively modest security specification — watermark only at this level — reflects the denomination's diminished purchasing power by the time the series closed in 2005.