20 Rupiah

The South Sumatra Special Military Region issued its own emergency currency during the Indonesian National Revolution — a period when Dutch military operations had severed normal supply lines and the fledgling Republic's central monetary authority in Java had limited reach over the outer islands. Regional military commanders in Sumatra were effectively functioning as autonomous administrative units, and currency issuance was one consequence of that fragmentation.

P#S171 is a guerrilla-period emission. The "S" prefix in the Pick catalog places it firmly in the local/revolutionary category, distinct from the official ORI series. Notes from this issuer are rarely encountered outside Indonesian collections.