Indonesian Banknote Day Date in the current year: October 30, 2024

The first currency to circulate in the territory of the present-day Indonesia was the Netherlands Indies gulden. Following the occupation of the Dutch East Indies by Japan in 1942, the Japanese occupiers began issuing military banknotes that formally retained the gulden name. In 1943, the Japanese occupation government replaced them with the Netherlands Indies rupiah.

On August 17, 1945, the Indonesian War of Independence broke out. Two months after the declaration of Independence, the revolutionaries issued the proclamation on new Indonesian money under the authority of the Republic of Indonesia. This money is known as “Oeang Republik Indonesia” (“oeang” being the old spelling of “uang” which translates into English as “money”). The first truly Indonesian rupiah notes officially began to circulate on October 30, 1946.

Following the end of the war and the official recognition of Indonesia’s independence, the wartime notes were were withdrawn from circulation and replaced by the new Indonesian rupiah. Despite their brief history, these notes are seen as a symbol of the country’s struggle for independence.