Catalog
10 Gulden / Rupiah
| Issuer | Nederlandsch-Indië (Netherlands Indies Government) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
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| Currency | Gulden (1610-1949) |
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| Obverse description | Red on pink guilloche underprint. An oval portrait vignette of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands is positioned at right, while a complementary oval vignette at left contains the Netherlands Indies coat of arms set within intricate guilloche work. Bilingual denomination inscriptions appear in Dutch (TIEN NEDERLANDSCH-INDISCHE GOUVERNEMENTSGULDEN) and Malay (SEPELOEH ROEPIAH) beneath the heading NEDERLANDSCH-INDIË, with two facsimile signatures at lower centre and the AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY imprint at the bottom margin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Green on light underprint. The central vignette presents a pastoral agricultural scene with figures and a water buffalo ploughing a field. Counterfeiting warning texts in Dutch and Malay are arranged in flanking columns to either side of the vignette, the denomination numeral 10 appears in each corner, and the AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY imprint runs along the lower margin beneath the heading NEDERLANDSCH-INDIË at top. |
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| Comments |
Designed and printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York after the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies had made local production impossible, this note was prepared in exile — the Netherlands Indies Government had no territory to speak of when it was issued. The ABNC contract was part of a broader Allied effort to pre-position occupation currency for eventual liberation, a goal that proved more complicated than anticipated given how long Japanese control held.
Repatriation of Dutch authority after 1945 was immediately contested by the Indonesian independence movement, and many of these notes entered a chaotic monetary environment before being superseded during the transition period. The dual denomination — Gulden on one face, Rupiah on the other — reflects the administrative uncertainty about what the post-war currency unit would actually be called.