Netherlands Indian gulden

The gulden was the currency of the Netherlands Indies until 1949. It was equal to the Dutch gulden for most of its existence.

History

Until 1802, the Netherlands Indies gulden was subdivided into 20 "stuiver", each of 4 "duit", as in the Netherlands. However, in 1802, the local stuiver was devalued, such that 24 stuiver = 1 gulden. A further devaluation occurred in 1817, resulting in relationships of 120 duit = 30 stuiver = 1 gulden. The gulden replaced the Javan rupee in 1816 and the Sumatran dollar in 1824.

In 1833, the duit was replaced by the "cent", but the currency system was not decimalized, i.e., there were 120 cent to the gulden. Only in 1854 was the cent revalued to create a system of 100 cent = 1 gulden.

In 1942, the Japanese government began issuing paper money denominated in gulden for use in the Netherlands Indies. The gulden was replaced by the roepiah at par in 1944. The gulden reappeared (again equal to the Dutch gulden) in the issues of the Javanese Bank and the Dutch government between 1945 and 1949. The Javanese Bank issues also called the currency the rupiah. In 1949, the Indonesian rupiah became the sole currency of Indonesia.

In Netherlands New Guinea, the Dutch remained in power until 1962 and the Netherlands New Guinean gulden circulated there, replacing the older gulden at par.

Coins

Coins were issued for use in the Netherlands Indies by some of the Dutch provinces, including Gelderland, Holland and Overijssel, and the United East India Company (VOC) until the early 19th century. Denominations included copper ½ and 1 duit and silver 10 stuiver, 1 and 3 gulden. The VOC also issued silver ½ and 1 rupee coins.

Between 1801 and 1809, copper coins were issued in the name of the Batavian Republic, with the Kingdom of Holland also issuing copper coins between 1806 and 1810. From 1816, the Kingdom of the Netherlands issued coins, with copper ½ duit (⅛ stuiver), 1 duit (¼ stuiver) and ½ stuiver, and silver ¼, ½ and 1 gulden.

With decimalization in 1854, a new coinage was introduced, consisting of copper ½, 1 and 2½ cent and silver frac|1|20, frac|1|10 and ¼ gulden. These denominations continued to be issued until 1945, with the addition of 1 and 2½ gulden coins in 1943.

Banknotes

In 1815, the government issued notes in denominations of 1 up to 1000 gulden. The "De Javasche Bank" began issuing notes in 1828, in denominations of 25 up to 1000 gulden. In 1832, two series of notes were issued by the bank, one redeemable in copper coins, the other redeemable in silver. The copper gulden was equal to 240 g copper. [http://users.erols.com/kurrency/asia.htm] A second series of notes redeemable in copper was issued in 1842, followed by a series of "recepis" (receipts) for which the copper notes were exchanged at a rate of 6 copper gulden to 5 recepis gulden.

Regular issues of paper money by De Javasche Bank recommenced in 1864. Denominations issued were 5, 25, 50, 100 and 500 gulden, with 1000 gulden added in 1873 and 10 gulden in 1890. Later notes included denominations of 30, 40, 200 and 300 gulden. Due to metal supply issues, the government was first authorised after World War 1 to issue treasury notes (denominations below 5 gulden, which were in the issue of the central bank), which it did in 1919. The same metal supply issue arose in 1940, during World War 2, where low value notes of ½, 1 and 2½ gulden.

In 1942, the Japanese successfully invaded the Indies, bringing with their invasion fleet, their own version of the gulden, in denominations of 1, 5 and 10 cents, ½, 1, 5 and 10 gulden.

By 1944 they had decided that engendering a collective Asian nationalism would be the key to keeping control, and hence the Dutch-style gulden notes, were replaced by the Netherlands Indies roepiah, an Indonesian language version of the gulden.

The Dutch government in exile ordered notes for issue on their return to Indonesia, and these were printed in the USA in 1942, dated 1943. They began to be issued in the Eastern islands (which the Dutch captured early on) of the archipelago from 1944 to 1945. Because of Dutch fears about damage to De Javasche Bank from the war, they were issued under the authority of the Dutch government instead, hence they were known as the 'NICA Gulden' (Netherlands Indies Civil Administration gulden). In Java and Sumatra, Indonesian nationalists were insurgent, and the Dutch were initially confined to only a few cities, and in both islands among both Indonesian and Dutch, the Japanese invasion money continued to circulate, until supplies ran out.

The issue in 1946 of the first Indonesian rupiah, by the provisional Republican government in Jakarta saw conflict between the rival currencies and administrations. The Dutch money was not tolerated by the Indonesian nationalists, who insisted on the use of only Indonesian money.

After 1946 De Javasche Bank resumed note production, with a series of notes in denominations issued of 5, 10 and 25 gulden issued, also bearing in Indonesian language the words "roepiah", as against the NICA gulden, which bore the image of the Dutch Queen, and was far from sensitive to nationalist feeling. Further notes simply saying "Indonesia" were issued in 10 and 25 sen denominations in 1947.

Between 1946 and 1948 the Dutch successfully expanded the amount of land under their control, but international feeling was against them, so in November 1949, peace was brokered, with one of the conditions that "De Javasche Bank" remained as central bank of the new nation of "Republik Indonesia Serikat" (United States of Indonesia). Thus the first internationally recognised currency of the new nation of Indonesia still bore the words "gulden", and "De Javasche Bank", reusing the 1946 (even retaining the date, 1946) De Javasche Bank notes, changing only the colour, and filling out the denominations with 50, 100, 500 and 1000 gulden notes. Further De Javasche Bank notes, in new design, were dated "1948" in ½, 1 and 2½ gulden denominations, and were also issued upon Indonesian independence, along with new 'Republik Indonesia Serikat' notes in 5 and 10 rupiah (not gulden) denominations.

The feeling for "Indonesianization" was strong, and so De Javasche Bank was nationalized and renamed to "Bank Indonesia" over the period 1951 to 1953, and Bank Indonesia rupiah notes began to replace the gulden from 1953.

References

*numis cite SCWC|date=1991
*numis cite SCWPM|date=1994

External links

Standard numismatics external links
world_coin_gallery_1_url = Eindies
world_coin_gallery_1_name = Netherland East Indies
banknote_world_1_url = netherlands_indies
banknote_world_1_name = Netherlands Indies
dollarization_1_url = asia
dollarization_1_name = Asia
gfd_1_url = Indonesia
gfd_1_name = Indonesia
show_gfd_excel = Y