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. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Green note with an elaborate guilloche border and ornamental framework. The large numeral "2½" appears as the central vignette, flanked by two text panels containing the anti-counterfeiting penal code in Dutch and Malay. The imprint of the American Bank Note Company appears at the bottom centre. |
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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.