The West Irian rupiah was a distinct currency of

West Irian Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

(formerly West New Guinea) between 1963 and 1973. It replaced the West New Guinea gulden at par and was replaced by the

Indonesian rupiah The rupiah (Currency symbol, symbol: Rp; ISO 4217, currency code: IDR) is the official currency of Indonesia. It is issued and controlled by Bank Indonesia. The name "Rupee, rupiah" is derived from the Sanskrit word for silver, (). Sometimes, I ...

at the rate of 1 West Irian rupiah = 18.9 Indonesian rupiah.

History

The presence of the Dutch in

Netherlands New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdo ...

had been a subject of disagreement ever since the treaty that negotiated the Dutch withdrawal from Indonesia in 1949. The Dutch were unwilling to cede to Indonesian control, preferring instead to establish a state of Papua. The Indonesians eventually broke off diplomatic relations with the Dutch, on 17 August 1960. Due to the Indonesians insurgency and confusion over the status of the province, the UN took control as

West New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

under the authority of the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority on 1 October 1962. On 1 May 1963, UNTEA agreed that the province would be transferred to Indonesia, as

Irian Barat Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

(West Irian), a province of Indonesia. By Presidential decree of

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

, on the day of May 1, 1963, the existing

Netherlands New Guinean gulden The gulden was the currency of Dutch New Guinea until 1963. Until 1950, issues of the Netherlands Indies circulated. A separate currency came into being when West New Guinea became the only part of the Netherlands Indies to remain in Dutch control. ...

was to be withdrawn, replaced at par, with government-issued coinage, government 1 and 2½ rupiah notes, with larger denomination notes to be issued by Bank Indonesia (the same division between government (aka treasury notes) and bank notes as existed for the Indonesian rupiah). Since the West Irian rupiah was replacing the gulden, which was a much stronger currency than the Indonesian rupiah, the Indonesian currency was not valid tender in Irian, in order to preserve the value of the Irian currency. Hyperinflation in Indonesia (which due to the separate monetary policy and currency, did not afflict Irian, although inflation was certainly still present) had necessitated a 1000 to 1 devaluation of the national currency in December 1965. It was the intention of the Presidential decree of 13 December 1965 that the 'rupiah baru' (new rupiah) become the unified national currency of all of Indonesia, exchangeable for the Irian Barat rupiah at par. However, a subsequent decree of 15 September 1966 restored the validity of the Irian money, recalling the Indonesian rupiah from Indonesia. The Indonesian rupiah only finally became legal tender in Irian on 18 February 1971. The existing Irian Barat money was exchangeable from May 1971 at the rate of 1 Irian Barat rupiah to 18.9 Indonesian rupiah. Thus given the official exchange rate of 378 Indonesian rupiah to 1 US$ at the time, it can be seen that the Irian Barat rupiah was ultimately worth exactly US$0.05. The Netherlands New Guinea gulden, fixed at par to the Dutch guilder, was exchangeable at 3.62 to the US dollar at the time of original conversion in 1963. Relative to the dollar therefore the currency had lost 82% of its value in 8 years. The Irian Barat rupiah circulated alongside the Indonesian rupiah as legal tender, for a further two years, until 1 April 1973.

Coins

Coins were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 sen. All were minted in aluminium and dated 1962. Unlike those issued for Riau (see

Riau rupiah The Riau rupiah was a distinct currency of the Riau Archipelago between 1963 and 1964. It replaced the Malaya and British Borneo dollar at par and was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah at the rate of 1 Riau rupiah = 14.7 Indonesian rupiah. History ...

), they bore no edge inscription.

Banknotes

Bank Indonesia notes were printed by Indonesian printer P.N. Pertjetakan Kebajoran (currently

Perum Peruri The Money-printing Public Corporation of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Perusahaan Umum Percetakan Uang Republik Indonesia, shortened as Peruri) is the Indonesian state-owned banknote/ security printers and mint, established on 15 September 1971 ...

) dated "1960" with the overprint "Irian Barat" in denominations of 5, 10, and 100 rupiah bearing the image of President

. The government notes were dated "1961" with the "Irian Barat" overprint in 1 and 2½ rupiah denominations. Near-identical, but for the overprint, versions of all five notes had previously been issued for the

, while the same five notes (minus the overprint) were also circulated as

in 1965 (with the 1 and 2½ rupiah notes alone redated, to "1964"). Green (1) and blue (2½) variants of the 1 and 2½ notes were intended for issue in

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is present day Sabah. The territory of North Borneo ...

, which Indonesia saw as a possible extension to its territory due to the power vacuum in the region at that time.

External links

'Exclusive Rupiah for West Irian Territory and the Riau Islands', Bank Indonesia {{Rupee, state=collapsed Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Indonesia Economy of Indonesia Guided Democracy in Indonesia New Order (Indonesia) 1963 establishments in Indonesia 1973 disestablishments in Indonesia