The Netherlands Indies: Series of circulating coins 1927

[eurocoin]

The Netherlands Indies coins of 1927

Based on "Indische Gulden en Rijksdaalder" by LMJ Boegheim, published in October 1992 in 'De Beeldenaar'.


Since around 1800, the Netherlands Indies have their own coins. After 1820, the Netherlands Indies exchanged their own 1/2 and 1 gulden coins for the Dutch counterparts. For the other denominations, they continued to use their own coins. In the early 1920's some people in the Netherlands Indies wanted their own 0,5, 1 and 2,5 gulden coins. After World War I, silver had become so expensive that the face value was no longer higher than the value of the metal in the coins. To tackle this, the Netherlands was planning to introduce a new series of coins with a lower silver content (.720 instead of .945). This was the chance of the Netherlands Indies to introduce their own 0,5 , 1 and 2,5 gulden coins. In April of 1921, the Netherlands Indies formed a State Commission on Coinage. They decided that the (re-)introduction of their own 0,5, 1 and 2,5 gulden coins would be desirable. On July 14, 1927, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands Indies informed mintmaster dr. Hoitsema of the Royal Dutch Mint that he had received a request from Governor-General De Graeff about this. The Governor-General wanted to maintain the obverse of the coins but the coat of arms of the Netherlands on the reverse was to be replaced by something typical Indian. As an example he mentioned a blade of the rice plant. The denomination had to be indicated in Malay and Javanese like on the lower denominations. For the designs he asked the mint to find experts who had been to the Netherlands Indies. The Royal Dutch Mint received the following three designs by artist Pieter Ducro. He was a Dutch designer who led a Batik workshop in the Netherlands Indies.

The designs were not accepted. In July 1927, mintmaster Hoitsema asked the Dutch coin and medal designers Johannes Cornelis Wienecke and Chris van der Hoef to prepare designs. About a dozen of people were asked to help with the Javanese and Malay lettering on the coin. Eventually professor Godard Hazeu was going to do this. He asked the help of 2 assistant teachers for Malay and Javanese. He also contacted a few people from Indonesia who suggested that latin characters should be used for the lettering and edge lettering. Javanese was only known on a part of Java while Malay was known on a much larger part of the Netherlands Indies, including Sumatra, a small part of Borneo and South Sulawesi.

The sketches below were possibly made by the Malay assistant teacher. Eventually the project was abandoned as the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands Indies was able to convince the Minister of Colonies that it didn't make sense to issue separate coins. The Netherlands Indies kept on using the Dutch coins of 1/2, 1 and 2 1/2 gulden.

Sketches for the 1 gulden (= 1 roepiah or seroepiah) coin include several water buffalos, a bundle of rice, a tree and a tiger (?). The lettering reads "Wang Keradjaan Belanda", which translates to "Money of the Kingdom of the Netherlands".

Sketches for the 1 gulden (= 1 roepiah or seroepiah) coin.

They include several water buffalos, a bundle of rice, a tree and a tiger (?).


The lettering reads "Wang Keradjaan Belanda".

This translates to "Money of the Kingdom of the Netherlands".

Sketches for the 2,5 gulden (= 2 roepiah 50 sen or Doea roepiah 50 sen).

[<k>]

So where did you find this fascinating information? Also, remind me when the country did get its first national coins.

[eurocoin]

So where did you find this fascinating information? Also, remind me when the country did get its first national coins.

From an old copy of the Beeldenaar (a Dutch numismatic magazine). I left out a lot of excess information and I added some notes to it. The information originates from the archives of the Royal Dutch Mint. The Netherlands Indies have always had their own coins since the country was formed in 1800. Around 1820 they stopped using their own coins of 0,5 and 1 gulden and started to use the Dutch 0,5, 1 and 2,5 gulden coins instead. For the lower denomination, they still used their own coins. Around 1927 they again wanted their  own 0,5, 1 and 2,5 gulden coins which reflected the history, culture,... of the Netherlands Indies.

[chrisild]

Interesting story and background. The Ducro designs I like, although the art déco look would probably have been replaced by something else ("hey, that style is not fashionable any more") after a short period of time.

Now that portrait ... yes, these 1G/1rp designs are just sketches, but poor Wilhelmina sure deserved something better.

Christian

[Figleaf]

In view of the fact that massive amounts of 2½ gulden coins have come out of Indonesia, I think they were used in the Netherlands East Indies much like the ½ gulden and the gulden. Apart from that, very interesting to see these designs and learn about their background. I am not surprised the Ministry of Finance won from the Ministry of the Colonies

In modern Malay, "money of the kingdom of the Netherlands" would be something like wang daripada Kerajaan Belanda. As modern Malay is shaped in Malaysia, the spelling Keradiaan on the designs might be a local variant. I presume the pronunciation would be the same.

Peter

[Kopper Ken]

Looks like more of an Art Nouveau Style....floral like.

KK

[chrisild]

You got that right. In German we call it Jugendstil, and I picked the wrong English term. Sorry or rather thanks.

Christian