Japanese government–issued currency in the Dutch East Indies
Unit | |
---|---|
Unit | guilder, rupiah |
Plural | guilders |
Symbol | N/A |
Denominations | |
Subunit | |
1⁄100 | cent, sen |
Plural | |
cent, sen | cents, sen |
Banknotes |
|
Coins | 1, 5, and 10 sen (never released) |
Demographics | |
User(s) | Occupied Dutch East Indies Occupied Portuguese Timor |
Issuance | |
Central bank | Imperial Japan/Southern Development Bank |
Mint | Japan Mint, Osaka Branch |
Website | www |
Valuation | |
Pegged with | Japanese yen |
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. |
The Netherlands Indies guilder, later the Netherlands Indies roepiah (
History
Background
In December 1941, the
Occupation
The Japanese occupation government immediately began issuing military banknotes for use in the occupied Indies, as had previously been done in other occupied territories.[3] These first banknotes were printed in Japan, and issued by the Ministry of Finance.[5][3] This issue formally retained the guilder name, though in common indigene parlance it was called oeang Djepang (Japanese money) or oeang pisang (banana money, for the prominent bananas on the ten guilder note).[5] Each guilder (or, later, roepiah) consisted of 100 cents (sen).[6]
After the occupation began, the Japanese military government ruled that, as of 11 March 1942, the only valid currency in the region were military banknotes and existing
After the
In March 1943, the Japanese occupation government ceased issuing military notes; at the time, military currency to the value of 353 million guilder was in circulation.[8] Printing operations were moved to Kolff in Batavia (now Jakarta), Java.[5] These banknotes, which experienced no change in appearance, were issued by the Southern Development Bank (SDB), which had been established the preceding year and was managed by Yokohama Specie Bank and Bank of Taiwan.[9]
Under the SDB, an increasingly large amount of currency was issued; the professor Shibata Yoshimasa (柴田 善雅) writes that, by the end of 1943, the total circulation had almost doubled to 674 million guilder, reaching almost two billion by the end of 1944.[10] This increase in circulation was followed by a drastic increase in inflation. Ultimately, this currency, renamed the roepiah for the 1944 issue,[11] was widely used but highly depreciated.[5]
Post-surrender
The Japanese forces surrendered on 15 August, and two days later the Republic of Indonesia proclaimed its independence.[6] Initially, the widely available Japanese-issued roepiah were accepted as legal tender, together with the pre-war guilder, in both areas controlled by the Netherlands and those under Republican rule;[5] indeed, the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) printed more to deal with the costs of reestablishing Dutch administration in the area, though this also led to a continued increase in inflation.[12] Japanese issued notes were not, however, at par with pre-war guilder; in Java, the exchange rate was 10:1 to 12:1.[13]
On 6 March 1946, Dutch-controlled areas replaced the Japanese-issue roepiah with the NICA-issued guilder, giving an official exchange rate of 3 NICA guilder to 100 Japanese roepiah.[14] The Republican government followed suit on 30 October 1946, replacing the occupation currency with Oeang Repoeblik Indonesia (ORI) at an official rate of 50 Japanese roepiah for 1 ORI.[15][16] However, owing to the ongoing Indonesian National Revolution and the resulting chaotic monetary landscape, Japanese-issued bills remained in use into 1949.[6]
The
In
Coins
Known as the "Puppet Series" for each having depicted a distinctive traditional Indonesian shadow puppet, these coins were originally struck in tin with denominations of 1, 5, and 10 sen. They were dated 2604 using the classical Japanese imperial year calendar system, which equals 1943 in the Gregorian calendar. However, as the war began to turn against Japan her advantageous shipping routes were disrupted, and many coins destined towards the Indies were lost in transit due to heavy artillery fire and torpedoing of Japanese ships by Allied forces; this resulted in the series having never been issued. Most of the unused stock was later melted down and today very few specimens of any denomination survive.
Issuance
1942 (ND) guilder Issue
The Japanese invasion money used in the Netherlands Indies was first denominated in guilder (1942) [17] and later in Roepiah (1944–45).[18] The guilder issue bears the payment obligation "De Japansche Regeering Betaalt Aan Toonder" (The Japanese Government pays to the bearer) on notes one-half guilder and above.[19] On smaller change notes (1–10 cents) it is shortened to “De Japansche Regeering”.[17] All Japanese invasion money used in the Netherlands Indies bear the block prefix letter “S” either followed by a number (lower denominations, 1–10 cents), a second letter, or as the numerator in a fractional block layout.[20] Serial numbers were used for the initial printings of higher denomination notes (i.e., 1, 5, and 10 guilder) but the printing machinery used by the Japanese after March 1943 (i.e., Kolff printing facility in Jakarta) did not allow for automatic sequential numbering thus the task was very slow and often resulted in multiple notes with the same serial number.[21] By the middle of the second printing (the SB block) serial numbers were abandoned.[19] Notes of one-half guilder and above are printed on paper watermarked with a repeating kiri flower.
1944 (ND) Roepiah Issue
First issued in September 1944, the "Dai Nippon Teikoku Seihu" notes (The Administration of the Japanese Troops) were denominated in Roepiah and printed entirely in Java.[4]
1944-45 Roepiah Issue
Banknote table
Japanese guilder (1942)
Image | Value | Issue date | Printing blocks[20] | Images[20] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 Cent | 1942 | unk | scroll work | |
5 Cents | 1942 | unk | scroll work | |
10 Cents | 1942 | unk | scroll work | |
Half guilder | 1942 | SA–SK, SM, SL | Fan palm; scroll work | |
1 guilder | 1942 | SA–SI, SL, SN | Breadfruit tree; scroll work | |
5 guilder | 1942 | SA–SG | Coconut palm, pawpaw; scroll work | |
10 guilder | 1942 | SA–SI, SK, SL | Banana tree, coconut palm; palm trees, horizon |
Japanese roepiah (1944)
Image | Value | Issue date | Images[20] |
---|---|---|---|
half Roepiah | 1944 | Ornate dragon | |
1 Roepiah | 1944 | Rice growing; Banyan tree | |
5 Roepiah | 1944 | Batak house; Batak woman | |
10 Roepiah | 1944 | Javanese dancer; Buddha, stupas (Borobudur Temple) | |
100 Roepiah | 1944 | Vishnu on Garuda, Saruda, Lion; Wayang puppet |
See also
- Japanese military yen
- Oceanian Pound
- Japanese government-issued Philippine peso
- Japanese government-issued rupee in Burma
References
- ^ Ricklefs 1993, p. 195.
- ^ Shibata 1996, p. 704.
- ^ a b c Shibata 1996, p. 701.
- ^ a b c Bank Indonesia Museum 2008, p. 4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Cribb 1981, p. 114.
- ^ a b c Cuhaj 2010, p. 876.
- ^ a b Nuno Fernandes Carvalho (April 2012). Ocupação Nipónica de Timor-Leste [Japanese Occupation of East Timor] (PDF) (Report). Caixa Geral de Depósitos. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ Shibata 1996, p. 702.
- ^ Shibata 1996, pp. 711–12.
- ^ a b Shibata 1996, p. 712.
- ^ Cuhaj 2010, p. 888.
- ^ a b Cribb 1981, p. 120.
- ^ Cribb 1981, p. 119.
- ^ Cribb 1981, pp. 119, 123.
- ^ Cribb 1981, pp. 127.
- ^ Judisseno 2002, p. 56.
- ^ a b Cuhaj 2010, p. 886.
- ^ Cuhaj 2010, p. 887.
- ^ a b Cuhaj 2010, pp. 886–87.
- ^ a b c d Cuhaj 2010, pp. 886–88.
- ^ Cribb 1981, p. 126.
Works cited
- "DJB [De Javasche Bank] during the Japanese Occupation (1942 – 1945)" (PDF). Bank Indonesia Museum. 2008.
- Cribb, Robert (April 1981). "Political Dimensions of the Currency Question 1945-1947". Indonesia. 31 (31): 113–136. JSTOR 3351017.
- Cuhaj, George S., ed. (2010). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money General Issues - 1368-1960. Vol. 2. Krause. ]
- Ricklefs, M. C. (1993). A History of Modern Indonesia since c.1300 (2nd ed.). Hampshire: MacMillan. ISBN 978-0-333-57689-2.
- Judisseno, Rimsky K (2002). Sistem Moneter dan Perbankan di Indonesia [Monetary and Banking System in Indonesia] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Gramedia. ISBN 978-979-686-895-7.
- )
- Also published in: Shibata, Yoshimasa (1997). "The Monetary Policy in the Netherlands East Indies under the Japanese Administration". In Post, Peter; Elly Touwen-Bouwsma (eds.). Japan, Indonesia and the War: Myths and Realities. Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies(KITLV). pp. 177–202.
- Also published in: Shibata, Yoshimasa (1997). "The Monetary Policy in the Netherlands East Indies under the Japanese Administration". In Post, Peter; Elly Touwen-Bouwsma (eds.). Japan, Indonesia and the War: Myths and Realities.