Regional
Issues
Republic
of
Indonesia
Part
13,
Java
By Rob Huisman
City of Surakarta
1 Rupiah
RH750 - 1 November 1948
Number of issued notes: unknown
Watermark: none
Stamp: partial stamp of Bank Negara Indonesia on left side of obverse; the missing part of the stamp
was applied to the allonge for possible later authentication purpose
Perforation on left side and one thick red line representing the value “1”
Signatures: Sjamsoeridjal (Wali Kota: Mayor of Solo), Soediro (Residen: Resident of Solo)
a. issued, serial number: 2 characters, 6 numbers *(e.g., R.F. 462270)
b. not issued, with allonge, 2 characters, 6 numbers * (e.g., N.I. 293102)
* The first character of the serial number has a fixed relation with the first number of the serial number
(H=1, K=5, N=2, R=4)
RH750a – from a private collection
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2 ½ Rupiah
RH751 - 1 November 1948
Number of issued notes: unknown
Watermark: none
Stamp: partial stamp of Bank Negara Indonesia on left side of obverse; the missing part of the stamp
was applied to the allonge for possible later authentication purpose
Perforation on left side and two thick red line with one thin line in the middle representing the value
“2 ½”
Signatures: Sjamsoeridjal (Wali Kota: Mayor of Solo), Soediro (Residen: Resident of Solo)
a. issued, serial number: 2 characters, 6 numbers * (e.g., H.J. 120146)
b. not issued, with allonge, 2 characters, 6 numbers * (e.g., R.J. 432002)
* The first character of the serial number has a fixed relation with the first number of the serial number
(H=1, K=5, N=2, R=4)
RH751a – from a private collection
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5 Rupiah
RH752 - 1 November 1948
Number of issued notes: unknown
Watermark: none
Stamp: partial stamp of Bank Negara Indonesia on left side of obverse; the missing part of the stamp
was applied to the allonge for possible later authentication purpose
Perforation on left side and five thin red lines representing the value “5”
Signatures: Sjamsoeridjal (Wali Kota: Mayor of Solo), Soediro (Residen: Resident of Solo)
a. issued, serial number: 2 characters, 6 numbers * (e.g., H.H. 110718),
b. not issued, with allonge, 2 characters, 6 numbers * (e.g., H.H. 132000)
* The first character of the serial number has a fixed relation with the first number of the serial number
(H=1, K=5, N=2, R=4)
RH752a – from a private collection
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Residency of Surakarta
5 Rupiah
RH753 - 1 November 1949
Number of issued notes: unknown
Watermark: none
These notes show a large number “5” in the left upper quadrant of the obverse. The number has one
full vertical line from top to bottom and three small vertical lines on the bottom of the number **.
Signatures: Soediro (Residen: Resident of Solo), Achmadi (Kepala Pemerintah Militer Daerah
Surakarta: Military head of Surakarta regional government)
a. issued, serial number: 5 numbers (e.g., 92809)
b. issued, serial number, 1 capital “A”, 5 numbers (e.g., A 84847)
RH753a – from a private collection
RH753b – from a private collection
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10 Rupiah
RH754 - 1 November 1949
Number of issued notes: unknown
Watermark: none
These notes show a large number “10” in the left upper quadrant of the obverse. The number “1” has
one full vertical line from top to bottom and the number “0” has one full vertical line from top to
bottom and three small vertical lines on the top and on the bottom of the number **.
Signatures: Soediro (Residen: Resident of Solo), Achmadi (Kepala Pemerintah Militer Daerah
Surakarta: Military head of Surakarta regional government)
a. issued, serial number: 5 numbers (e.g., 56259)
RH754a – from a private collection
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25 Rupiah
RH755 - 1 November 1949
Number of issued notes: unknown
Watermark: none
These notes show a large number “25” in the left upper quadrant of the obverse. Both the number “2”
and number “5” have one full vertical line from top to bottom and three small vertical lines on the
bottom of each number **.
Signatures: Soediro (Residen: Resident of Solo), Achmadi (Kepala Pemerintah Militer Daerah
Surakarta: Military head of Surakarta regional government)
a. issued, serial number: 6 numbers (e.g., 116496)
RH755a – from a private collection
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** The 1948 issue of the Surakarta notes contained lines to indicate the value of the notes, like five
thin lines to represent the value “5” and 2 thick and one thin line to represent the value “2 ½”.
The 1949 issues do not contain this additional value indication. These notes have their value also
printed in large red numbers on the obverse. These numbers show a mysterious pattern of vertical lines
through the numbers. It is unclear whether these lines have a specific meaning other than a design
purpose.
However, the pattern that the author identified is as follows:
The number “5” and number “2” have one full vertical line from top to bottom and three small vertical
lines on the bottom of each number. The note with the value “5” therefore has a pattern of one full line
and three small lines. The note with the value “25” also has the same pattern when one divides the
lines with the number of numbers (2 full lines and 6 small lines divided by two numbers = 1 full line
and three small lines). The note with the value “10” has the same result: the number “1” with one full
line and the number “0” with one full line and six small lines (2 full lines and 6 small lines divided by
two numbers = 1 full lime and three small lines). An interesting observation is that no other possible
denomination of notes, like 50, 100, 200, 250, 500 and 1000 can be constructed with these numbers
while getting the same result or same pattern. It is hard to judge the significance of these findings at
this moment. Would this have been a security method or is it mere coincidence. More research is
needed to draw conclusions.
About
the
author
Rob Huisman ([email protected]) would like to hear from anyone with more
information on these banknotes. He is 54 years old and was born in the Netherlands. In his
professional career he lived in Hong Kong for many years, worked in Indonesia for a while, and also
lived in the United States. Currently he lives in the Netherlands with his wife and three children. He is
chief executive officer and co-owner of Immidio, an international software vendor. Most of his spare
time he spends on collecting Netherlands Indies and Indonesian paper money. Besides that he is co-
owner of www.collectplaza-auctions.com, an auction house for stamps, paper money, coins, stocks,
checks, and related books. Furthermore Rob hosts www.papermoney-indonesia.com where he shares
and collects information about Netherlands Indies and Indonesian paper money.
Bibliography
1. Banknotes and Coins from Indonesia, 1945-1990, Yayasan Serangan Umum 1 Maret 1949 &
Perum Peruri Jakarta
2. Several private collections, details known by the author
3. Collection of the Geldmuseum, Utrecht, the Netherlands
4. Standard Catalog of World Paper Money – specialized issues, fifth edition, volume one, by
Albert Pick, Krause Publications, Inc., Iola, USA, 1986
5. Katalog Uang Kertas Indonesia 1782-2005, PT. Sugijaya Abadi Sentosa, Edisi ke 2
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