Banknotes of the Indonesian rupiah
The first banknotes used in the archipelago that would become Indonesia were those issued by the United East India Company, credit letters of the rijksdaalder dating between 1783 and 1811.
Lower denominations (below 5 gulden) were issued by the government in 1919–1920 and in 1939–1940 due to wartime metal shortages, but otherwise day-to-day transactions were conducted using coinage.
Following the negotiated peace treaty in The Hague of 1949, the ORI was withdrawn, and replaced by an internationally recognised Indonesian rupiah.
[3] 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.
[8] In addition to the 'national' (but restricted in practice to the central republican enclave in Java) notes, the republican authorities, instructed regional commanders in areas that the national money couldn't reach to issue their own currency in order to discourage the circulation of Dutch money.
The RIS government passed legislation on 2 June 1950 to allow it to issue new treasury notes, which were printed by Thomas De La Rue and dated 1 January 1950 in denominations of Rp5 and Rp10.
Thus, 'Republik Indonesia' notes dated 1951 and 1953 were issued in Rp1 and Rp2½ denominations; these were signed by Sjafruddin Prawiranegara in 1951 and Soemitro Djojohadikoesoemo in 1953.
In 1957, governor of Bank Indonesia Sjafruddin Prawiranegara commissioned a new series of notes from Thomas De La Rue.
8 September 1959 brought the first purely Indonesian-designed notes, issued by the state printer Pertjetakan Kebajoran.
Due to inflation, the TDLR Rp2,500 note of "animals" design was last issued in September 1962, becoming then the top denomination.
A new design for the Rp1 and Rp2½ government notes was issued in 1960 showing agricultural workers on its obverse and its results on its reverse.
Djuanda Kartawidjaja while notes dated 1961 were signed by Finance Minister Raden Murobikandi Notohamiprojo.
[12] As such, Bank Indonesia assumed responsibility for the issuance of all denominations of the 1968 series of the rupiah, with all notes being printed by Pertjetakan Kebajoran with the imprint date of 1968 with values ranging from Rp1 to Rp1,000.
The notes featured the revolutionary hero General Sudirman on all of their obverses, while their reverse depicts various scenes of industrial activities.
The design featured Suharto on the front and Soekarno-Hatta airport on the back, with a plane taking off to symbolise Indonesia's growth.
Several changes were also made to the note's security features and devices, including the addition of omron rings and a circle-shaped blind code.
[29][30] The following year, in commemoration of that year's Youth Pledge Day on 28 October 2011, Bank Indonesia updated the Rp20,000, Rp50,000, and Rp100,000 banknotes to feature enhanced security features including rainbow printing, omron rings and new blind codes.
(abbreviation of "Tahun Emisi", Issue Year) 2014 and the signatures of the then-BI governor Agus Martowardojo and the then-Indonesian Finance Minister Chatib Basri.
That same year, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has officially appointed Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta as obverse of Rp100,000 banknotes, following the issuance of Presidential Decree No.
Officially, they were retroactively issued as legal tender on 17 August 2022 to commemorate Indonesia's 77th year of independence.
The design featured Suharto on the front and Soekarno-Hatta airport on the back, with a plane taking off to symbolise Indonesia's growth.
However, it is believed that due to poor sales, some of the polymer notes, minus the folder, were issued as regularly circulating money.
They were made available to Indonesian citizens over the age of 17, who could purchase a maximum of one banknote by registering online and collecting it at one of the 45 regional Bank Indonesia branches.
Due to the high demand, banknotes were subsequently offered for sale online for prices up to Rp8.8 million, more than 117 times its face value.
Following rumors that the notes were only merchandise, and not legal tender, the central bank confirmed they could be used for payment transactions.
The design of the note also attracted attention, and Bank Indonesia was obliged to deny that one of the children pictured on the back was wearing a traditional costume from China.
