Coins of Indonesia: denominations, photo, exchange rate against the ruble

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Indonesia is an island nation located in southeastern Asia with its capital city of Jakarta. Indonesia shares borders with Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and East Timor, and has maritime borders with Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. The roots of the name of the state go back to Latin, in which this phrase means "Indian Islands".

Country with many nations

Indonesia consists of a large number of islands, among which the largest are Borneo, Java, Sumatra. The Indonesian islands are washed by the waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world. More than 260 million people live in an area slightly larger than 1 million square kilometers. Among them there are about 300 peoples and nationalities, so Indonesia is rightly called a multinational country. Indigenous peoples include Papuans, Javanese, Madurians. Also, alien peoples from China and Europe live on the lands of Indonesia. People living here communicate in Indonesian, or, as it is also called, Malaysianlanguage.

History of Indonesia

The history of Indonesia began during the Lower Paleolithic, when the first people settled on one of its islands. Historians know that back in the 4th century, the state of Kutai appeared here, which gradually expanded its borders and included more and more islands. The foot of a European man set foot here only at the beginning of the 16th century, when the Portuguese exported spices from here. In the 18th century, the Dutch ousted the Portuguese, after the territory of Indonesia was occupied by Britain, but in the end they were returned under the rule of the Netherlands. During World War II, Japanese troops captured the islands and remained here until 1945, when the opposition declared the country's independence. Therefore, we can say that Indonesia has come a really long and thorny path from the status of a colony to an independent state.

Now Indonesia is an economically developed country in its region, which has a huge impact on political events throughout Southeast Asia.

Indonesian money: history and origins

Even in the 9th century, the inhabitants of the islands began to learn about monetary relations, so the coins of Indonesia and money in general have come a long way. After the Dutch came to these territories, the Indonesian guilder was introduced - a variant of the currency of the Netherlands. Since the Japanese came to these lands, Japanese money also appeared here. Its own currency appeared here only after the Second World War.

The first Indonesian money was issued in 1946year, but for several years after they were in circulation along with the guilder and the Japanese rupee. Only in 1949, the Indonesian rupiah (the name of this currency) was recognized as the official currency of the newly independent state.

In 1965, the country experienced a sharp jump in inflation due to the precarious state of the economy. There was an urgent need to denominate the currency, which happened in 1965. As a result, new banknotes and coins of Indonesia were introduced, the exchange rate of which was one thousand old rupees to one new one. The crisis of the late 90s in Asia also pretty much "beat" the rupee, reducing its value by 35%.

The name "rupee" comes from Sanskrit, where it means "silver". You can often hear the name perak from local residents, which also means “silver” in local dialects.

Indonesia's first coins

The first coins in these territories were issued in 1951 and 1952. It is noteworthy that the banknotes were printed a year earlier, immediately after the conclusion of a peace treaty with the Netherlands. Initially, the metal was not used in the process of issuing money, as it was too risky for the isolated government of the then unrecognized independent state.

Hyperinflation in the 50s and 60s stopped the minting of coins, and those that remained in circulation were practically worthless. Coins returned to circulation again only in 1971, when the economic situation in the country more or less stabilized, and the inflation rate decreased. Coins were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10,25 and 50 rupees, and two years later - 100 rupees. These were the coins of Indonesia in those days, the photo of which is presented below.

Unlike the Dutch guilder, which was usually minted from silver or gold, only inexpensive metals are used in the production process of new Indonesian coins.

Modern coins

Today, two types of coins can be found in Indonesia: aluminum, bronze and nickel, issued between 1991 and 2010, and new coins of the 2016 sample. The first group is represented by coins in denominations of 50, 100, 200 rupees. The 1000 rupees and the 500 coin are the largest in Indonesia. Being old-fashioned money, they are gradually disappearing from circulation.

The national heroes of the country are depicted on the new coins. Coins of 100, 200, 500 Indonesian rupees have already been issued, which proudly joined the ranks of Indonesian coins. Rs 1000 is currently the largest coin in circulation.

Indonesian rupiah to ruble exchange rate

The Indonesian rupiah is not one of the most stable currencies in the world. Its exchange rate is constantly fluctuating because the high rate of inflation does not allow it to fully stabilize. There is nothing surprising in the fact that in different countries the exchange rate of the rupee may differ.

In major Indonesian cities, you can pay with bank cards, so many visitors are not particularly interested in the current exchange rate. However, places more distant from tourist centers require theseknowledge. Tourists from Russia before traveling to the islands should inquire in advance about the exchange rate of Indonesian coins. 1000 rupees, for example, can currently be bought for 4.6 Russian rubles. There are exchange offices at the airport, banks, hotels. In large cities, you can also find special exchange offices. However, the most profitable, as a rule, is the exchange rate in the bank.

Indonesia is a very interesting country with its amazing history, culture and way of life, the currency and the path of its formation in which was also unusual, long and thorny. Now the rupee exchange rate is not very stable, it changes often, but in general the government of the country is taking many measures in order to stabilize the economic situation and build a society with a high level of prosperity.