Catalog
2 1/2 Gulden/Roepiah
| Issuer | De Javasche Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
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| Size | 122 × 64 mm |
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| Obverse description | Red on pink underprint. A vignette of tropical blossoms with leaves occupies the left portion of the note, rendered in fine intaglio detail. The bank title DE JAVASCHE BANK appears across the top, with the bilingual value text in Dutch and Malay centered on the face, flanked at right by a large guilloche medallion bearing the denomination numeral 2½. Two manuscript signatures appear at the bottom, captioned SECRETARIS and PRESIDENT respectively, with the year 1948 printed at the lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
De Javasche Bank — the Dutch colonial central bank established in Batavia in 1828 — was still issuing notes for the Netherlands Indies in 1948 despite the political situation having shifted dramatically. The Indonesian Declaration of Independence had been proclaimed in August 1945, and the period surrounding this issue was defined by the Dutch "police actions" and ongoing sovereignty negotiations. That De Javasche Bank continued operating and issuing currency through Thomas De La Rue in London during this period reflects how stubbornly the Dutch administration maintained the fiction of normal colonial banking arrangements.
The dual denomination — Gulden and Roepiah printed on the same note — acknowledged the monetary reality on the ground, where both terms circulated in common usage. Full transfer of sovereignty came in December 1949.