Catalog
2½ Gulden / Rupiah
| Issuer | De Javasche Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in purple on white cotton paper, the obverse carries the title 'NEDERLANDSCH-INDIË / MUNTBILJET' at the top in a bold letterpress banner. To the left, a circular vignette presents the Dutch colonial coat of arms within an ornate frame, overlaid with a violet circular cancellation stamp reading 'SEROEPATHI'. To the right, an intaglio portrait of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands is set within a guilloche-bordered oval. The central denomination numeral '2½' appears in large format between the two vignettes, flanked by serial number 'BC090157A' printed in red at upper left and upper right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | HET NAMAKEN OF VERVALSSCHEN VAN MUNTBILJETTEN, HET OPZETTELIJK UITOEVEN, IN VOORRAAD HEBBEN OF BINNEN NEDERLANDSCH-INDIE INVOEREN VAN VALSCHE OF VERVALSCHTE MUNTBILJETTEN, IS BIJ DE ARTIKELEN 244, 245 EN 246 WETBOEK VAN STRAFRECHT STRAFBAAR GESTELD. DIDALAM, FATSAL 244, 245 DAN 246 DARI KITAB OENDANG OENDANG HOEKOEMAN DITETAPKAN HOEKOEMAN OENTOEK JANG MENIROE ATAU MEMALSOEKAN DEWANG KERTAS DAN OENTOEK JANG MENGELOEARKAN DENGAN SENGADJA, MENJIIMPAN ATAU MEMASOKKAN DEWANG KERTAS LANTJOENG ATAU JANG DIDJADIKAN LANTJOENG KE HINDIA-BELANDA. AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY. |
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| Comments |
De Javasche Bank — the Netherlands Indies' central bank, established in Batavia in 1828 — was effectively in exile by 1943. Japan had occupied the Dutch East Indies in early 1942, and this note was printed in New York by the American Bank Note Company for a government and banking institution that no longer had physical access to its own territory. It was prepared in anticipation of liberation, not for immediate use.
The ABNC contract work from this period is generally clean and consistent. Liberation came in 1945, but the subsequent Indonesian independence struggle meant these notes entered a deeply unstable monetary environment rather than the orderly restoration Dutch planners had envisioned.