2 1/2 Roepiah/Gulden

De Javasche Bank issued this note during one of the most turbulent stretches in Indonesian monetary history. The Dutch were fighting to reassert control over the archipelago following the 1945 proclamation of independence, and multiple currencies — Republican, Japanese occupation scrip, and Dutch colonial issues — circulated simultaneously in contested regions. A 2½-denomination made sense within the Dutch decimal-gulden tradition but was increasingly anachronistic against the political reality on the ground.

The bank's authority to issue currency in Indonesia was formally terminated in 1953 when Bank Indonesia absorbed its functions. Notes of this series saw sharply curtailed circulation in Republican-held territory.