Among the banknotes of Indonesia in the October 2023 Hong Kong Auction, Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio is proud to present the complete set of nine specimens consisting of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 2500 and 5000 rupiahs of the famous 1957 Animals Series. Printed by Thomas De La Rue in the UK, this is one of the most iconic and widely collected Indonesian banknote series.
The series was ordered by the Governor of Bank Indonesia Sjafruddin Prawiranegara in 1957, due to severe counterfeiting problems with the Rp100 and Rp1000 notes for the 1952 Culture Series. These two denominations were the first of the Animals series to be issued for general circulation in 1958.
The Rp500 and Rp1000 were devalued to the Rp50 and Rp100 respectively on 24 August 1959 and as a result the Rp2500 and Rp5000 were not issued. The former was eventually issued in 1962 owing to runaway inflation, but the Rp5000 remained unissued. The small denominations, the Rp10 and Rp25 were only issue for three days and are extremely rare today.
Notes from this series was gradually withdrawn from 1961 until 1966, when they were replaced by the Flowers and Handcrafts series.
The specimen notes will be offered in Session C of our live banknote sale on 5 October 2023 under lots 22085 to 22094. Many of the lots are in gem condition, especially the rare Rp5000 (lot 22094) which is the highest grade in PMG’s population report.
For further questions relating to our October Hong Kong Auction or consigning to our next auction in early December please call us at +852 2117 1191 or email infohk@stacksbowers.com.
