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The first paper money (banknotes) used in the Indonesian archipelago was that of the United East Indies Company, credit letters of the rijksdaalder dating between 1783 and 1811. Netherlands Indian gulden government credit paper followed in 1815, and from 1827 to 1842 and again from 1866 to 1948 gulden notes of De Javasche Bank. Lower denominations (below 5 gulden) were issued by the government in 1919–1920 and 1939–1940, due to wartime metal shortages, but otherwise day-to-day transactions were conducted using coinage.
Contents
- Series 1 1945
- Series 2 1 January 1947
- Series 3 26 July 1947
- Series 4 23 August 1948
- Regional Issues
- Java
- Sumatra
- Low denomination notes
- De Javasche Bank notes
- Republik Indonesia Serikat money
- Low denomination notes 2000 and 2001
- 20042005 high denomination note updates
- New 2000 rupiah note
- Revised 10000 rupiah note
- Revised 20000 50000 and 100000 rupiah notes
- Revised 100000 rupiah notes of 2014
- 2016 series
- Security features
- References
Gulden notes were issued by 'The Japanese Government' during the occupation from 1942, becoming 'roepiah' in 1943.
The first truly Indonesian rupiah notes, however were issued in 1946, during the war of independence with the Dutch, following the unilateral declaration of independence by the Indonesians at the end of World War Two on 17 August 1945. This money is known as 'Oeang Republik Indonesia' ('oeang' being the old spelling of 'uang', in English 'money').
Following the negotiated peace treaty in The Hague of 1949, the 'ORI' was withdrawn, to be replaced by an internationally recognised 'Indonesian rupiah'.
The Indonesian rupiah has been subject to numerous devaluations, and in 1965 existing paper was withdrawn, replaced by a new currency at the rate of 1000 to 1.
Series 1, '1945'
The first 'Indonesian rupiah' bank notes bore the date of the proclamation on new Indonesian money, 17 October 1945, under the authority of the "Republik Indonesia", and were apparently intended for issue on 1 February 1946, but due to the capture of most of the notes, only a tiny number escaped at this time.
The circulation began in earnest in Java from 10 October 1946. The notes were in denominations of 1, 5, and 10 sen notes, plus ½, 1, 5, 10, and 100 rupiah notes.
Series 2, '1 January 1947'
The second series of money now emanated from 'Djokjakarta', the Republic's base following the 'Police Action' of 21 July 1947, which had confined the Republicans to Yogyakarta and Central Java. The notes were dated 1 January 1947, in denominations of 5, 10, 25, and 100 rupiah.
Series 3, '26 July 1947'
The next new issue was dated 26 July 1947, and consisted of ½, 2½, 25, 50, 100, and 250 rupiah notes.
Series 4, '23 August 1948'
New notes were issued by the national government in 1948, in the bizarre denominations of 40, 75, 100, and 400 rupiah, plus an unissued 600 rupiah note.
On 19 December 1948, the Dutch seized Yogyakarta, reverting the head office of the Republic's central bank, Bank Negara Indonesia, back to De Javasche Bank, with DJB offices also reopened in Surakarta and Kediri.
It was planned in 1949 to revalue the national rupiah notes of the republic (which were at this time circulating in Java). To do this, "rupiah baru" ('new rupiah') notes were printed. This revaluation did not take place in Java, but some were issued in Aceh instead. The denominations printed were 10 sen (blue or red), ½ (green or red), 1 (purple or green), 10 (black or brown), 25, and 100 rupiah.
Regional Issues
In addition to the 'national' (but restricted in practice to the central republican enclave in Java) notes, the republican authorities, to discourage the circulation of Dutch money, instructed regional commanders in areas that the national money couldn't reach, to issue their own money, to be unified after full independence.
Java
The notes issued in Java generally featured text, a signature, and a serial number, all issued on low-grade paper without modern security features such as watermarks, and demonstrated few similarities between areas. Only in a few areas did the notes have any pictures on them.
Sumatra
As with the Java notes, the Sumatran notes are all primitive lacking security feature printed on poor-quality paper. In most cases they have some kind of artwork.
The following notes are known to have been printed::
The following notes were all issued by the 'Governor of Sumatra' in Bukittinggi:
Low denomination notes
The Dutch treasury had in 1947 issued Indonesian language 10 sen and 25 sen notes. Due to the initial lack of coinage and due to their relatively republic-friendly design, the Indonesian government saw it as expedient to continue to print these notes, and authorised their issue until such time as coinage had been minted, and in sufficient quantity to replace them.
De Javasche Bank notes
The peace settlement with the Dutch, negotiated in The Hague in November 1949, had kept De Javasche Bank as the central bank in Indonesia, hence the first notes that were issued for the post-independence rupiah bore its imprint. It was decided that the existing De Javasche Bank money dated 1946 would simply be revised in colour, with the 5 gulden note changing from purple to red and green, the 10 gulden from green to purple, and 25 gulden from red to green. In addition, 50 gulden, 100 gulden, 500 gulden, and 1000 gulden notes were added, still dated 1946.
Because there were existing 10 and 25 sen notes (which remained as legal tender and continued to be printed), a gap existed between the 25 sen Indonesia and 5 gulden De Javasche Bank notes. This was filled with notes of 1/2 rupiah, 1 rupiah, and 2½ rupiah, all dated 1948. The notes in wording were similar to the notes of 5 gulden and up, but the Indonesian text ('roepiah') placed above Dutch ('gulden').
The notes were all printed by Johan Enschede en Zonen, the Dutch printer.
Republik Indonesia Serikat money
The "Republik Indonesia Serikat" passed legislation on 2 June 1950 to allow it to issue new treasury notes, which were dated 1 January 1950 in 5 and 10 rupiah denominations. This was not long-lasting, as the RIS dissolved on 17 August 1950 (5 years after the original declaration of independence).
The notes were printed by Thomas De La Rue of England and had the date '1 January 1950' printed on the note.
Low denomination notes, 2000 and 2001
The lower denominations, 1,000 and 5,000 rupiah were updated in 2000 and 2001. While the 5,000 rupiah note is still being printed, the 1,000 rupiah note was last issued dated 2013 and, while remaining in circulation, has largely been replaced by a coin of the same value. The previous lowest denominations, 100 and 500 rupiah, no longer exist, since the rupiah had fallen in value by 80% since the previous issue of these denominations in 1992.
2004/2005 high denomination note updates
The 10,000 - 100,000 notes were replaced in 2004 and 2005, with the 100,000 reverting to a locally printed paper design, as the polymer notes proved difficult for bank machines to count; all the notes were given better anti-forgery devices.
New 2,000 rupiah note
After several delays, following an initial announcement that the 2000 rupiah note would replace the 1000 rupiah as lowest denomination, the new denomination, 2000 rupiah was finally officially released, to circulate alongside the lower denomination, in July 2009.
Revised 10,000 rupiah note
On 20 July 2010, the 2005 issue 10,000 rupiah note was revised, featuring the same theme but with a colour change to better distinguish it from the 100,000 rupiah note. Several changes were also made to the note's security features and devices.
Revised 20,000, 50,000, and 100,000 rupiah notes
On 1 August 2011, in commemoration of Youth Pledge Day, Bank Indonesia issued newly designed banknotes denominated in 20,000-, 50,000-, and 100,000-rupiah, although they bear no special commemorative text or images. The new notes have enhanced security features including rainbow printing and new codes for the sight impaired.
Revised 100,000 rupiah notes of 2014
Indonesia issued a revised 100,000 rupiah note on Independence Day, 17 August 2014. The banknotes have "Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia" ("The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia") written on the notes, replacing the name of its current issuer, Bank Indonesia. The new notes retain the images of its national figures, and are harder to counterfeit. The revised series carry an imprint of TE. 2014.
2016 series
Bank Indonesia introduced a new family of banknotes on December 19, 2016 in denominations of 1,000-, 2,000-, 5,000-, 10,000-, 20,000-, 50,000 and 100,000 rupiah. This series features national heroes from the history of Indonesia.