Catalog
2 1/2 Gulden Treasury Note
| Issuer | Government of Netherlands East Indies |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Value | 21/2 Gulden (2.5) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Brown on beige underprint, with an overall guilloche pattern framing an oval panel at center. The denomination "TWEE EN EEN HALVE GULDEN" appears along the lower margin, the value numerals "2.50" are repeated in each corner, and the vertical side panels carry the legend "WETTIG BETAALMIDDEL". The central oval contains the anti-counterfeiting penal code text in Dutch. |
| Reverse lettering | NEDERLANDSCH-INDIE Het namaken of vervalsehen van muntbiljetten met het oogmerk om die als echt en onvervalscht uit te geven of te doen uitgeven, wordtgestraft met gevangenisstraf van ten hoogste vijftien jaren. TWEE EN EEN HALVE GULDEN WETTIG BETAALMIDDEL (Translation: Netherlands Indies Counterfeiting or falsifying currency notes with the intention of issuing or having them issued as genuine and unforged is punishable by a prison sentence of not more than fifteen years. Two and a Half Gulden Legal Tender) |
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| Comments |
The 2½ Gulden denomination has an oddly persistent place in Dutch colonial finance — the fractional value was genuinely useful in a circulation environment where coin shortages were chronic and small-denomination paper filled the gap left by hoarded silver. This particular note was issued by the government treasury rather than the Javasche Bank, a meaningful distinction: it reflects the colonial administration's direct intervention in everyday liquidity rather than a central banking decision.
De Bussy was primarily an Amsterdam publishing and printing house, not a specialist security printer — an unusual choice for fiduciary paper, though not without precedent in this series.