Catalog
500 Gulden / Rupiah
| Issuer | Nederlandsch-Indische Gouvernement (Netherlands Indies Government) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
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| Currency | Gulden (1602-1949) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in dark green and black intaglio on cream paper. A central guilloche vignette frames the large numeral '500', flanked to the left by an oval cartouche enclosing the Netherlands Indies coat of arms and to the right by an intaglio portrait of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. The upper panel carries the legend 'NEDERLANDSCH-INDIË / MUNTBILJET' with a repeating microtext underprint reading '500', while the central text reads 'VIJFHONDERD / NEDERLANDSCH-INDISCHE / GOUVERNEMENTSGULDEN / LIMA RATOES ROEPIAH / WETTIG BETAALMIDDEL', with the issuing authority text below referencing the Royal Decree of 2 March 1943. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | NEDERLANDSCH-INDIË 500 HET NAMAKEN OF VERVALCHEN VAN MUNTBILJETTEN, HET OPZETTELIJK UITGEVEN, IN VOORRAAD HEBBEN OF BINNEN NEDERLANDSCH-INDIË INVOEREN VAN VALSCHE OF VERVALSCHTE MUNTBILJETTEN, IS BIJ DE ARTIKELEN 244, 245 EN 249 WETBOEK VAN STRAFRECHT STRAFBAAR GESTELD. AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY |
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| Comments |
Printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York while the Netherlands Indies was under Japanese occupation, this note was prepared in exile — the Dutch colonial administration had no functioning territory to issue into. The 1943 series was produced in anticipation of Allied liberation, intended to restore a functioning currency once the occupation collapsed.
The denomination is unusually high for a restoration-issue note, reflecting pre-war commercial valuations rather than any post-occupation economic reality. When liberation finally came in 1945, the currency situation was complicated further by the Indonesian independence declaration, leaving notes of this series caught between three competing monetary regimes.