Catalog
2 1/2 Gulden - Wilhelmina
| Issuer | Government of the Netherlands East Indies |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Purple note with a portrait vignette of Queen Wilhelmina at right, set against fine guilloche underprint. The crowned supported Arms of the Netherlands East Indies appear at left, with bilingual inscriptions in Dutch and Malay framing the central design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NEDERLANDSCH INDIË MUNTBILJET TWEE EN EEN HALVE NEDERLANDSCH INDISCHE GOUVERNEMENTSGULDEN DOEA ROEPIAH LIMA POELOEH SEN WETTIG BETAALMIDDEL 2 1/2 UITGEGEVEN KRACHTENS KONINKLIJK BESLUIT VAN 2 MAART 1943, Nº 1 STBL.D8 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY. (Translation: Dutch Indies Treasury Note Two and a Half Dutch Indies Government Gulden Legal Tender Issued pursuant to Royal Decree of March 2, 1943, no.1 Stbl.D8 American Bank Note Company) |
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| Comments |
Printed in New York by the American Bank Note Company while the Netherlands East Indies was under Japanese occupation, this note was prepared by the Dutch government-in-exile for use after liberation — currency produced for a territory its issuing authority had temporarily lost entirely. The 1943 series was intended for reintroduction once Allied forces retook the archipelago, which did not happen until the war's final months.
ABNC's engraved work on the series is notably precise, a detail that would later complicate matters: Indonesian nationalists declared independence in August 1945 before Dutch civil administration could be restored, meaning many of these notes entered a monetary environment the exile government had not anticipated.