Catalog
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| Issuer | De Javasche Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1866-1895 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Gulden (decimalized, 1854-1948) |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on white paper with an ornate scrollwork frame enclosing floral and foliate vignettes at each corner. The Dutch royal coat of arms appears at the top center, with the bank name and bearer clause in letterpress above the large denomination text "VIJF GULDEN". Date and place of issue printed below, with two manuscript signatures above the titles SECRETARIS and PRESIDENT. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 5 DE JAVASCHE BANK betaalt aan Toonder VIJF GULDEN BATAVIA SECRETARIS PRESIDENT 5 5 5 |
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| Comments |
De Javasche Bank operated under a renewable charter from the Dutch colonial government, and its banknotes during this period were produced locally in Batavia rather than sent to Amsterdam or a European security printer — an unusual arrangement that reflects both the bank's operational independence and the logistical impracticality of shipping blank or printed notes across the Indian Ocean. Local production meant local vulnerabilities: humidity, insects, and inconsistent paper stock all affected print quality and longevity, and surviving examples from this thirty-year window show considerable variation in ink strike and paper weight.
The long dating span of 1866–1895 covers a period of significant expansion in colonial plantation agriculture, when gulden-denominated paper was pushed into wider use among European merchant communities in Batavia and Surabaya.