Catalog
500 Gulden / Rupiah
| Issuer | Nederlandsch-Indische Gouvernement (Netherlands Indies Government) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
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| Reference(s) | P#531#NIN118 |
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in black intaglio on plain paper with a central vignette of a local scene, flanked by the large numeral '500' at left and right. The upper legend reads 'NEDERLANDSCH-INDIË' with warning texts against counterfeiting printed in Dutch on the left panel and in Malay in the Romanised script on the right panel, citing Articles 244, 245 and 249 of the Netherlands Indies Penal Code. A large circular red overprint stamp of the Republik Maluku Selatan (Republic of the South Moluccas) is applied across the centre of the note, and the printer's imprint 'AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY' appears at the bottom centre. |
| 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.