Dutch Indies Coin: Please bring the knowledge!

USArmyParatrooper

(I cross posted this on the NGC board to expand feedback pool)

I'm in language school to learn Indonesian. I asked for advice for coins I could pick up as a conversation piece for the class, and ended up buying this.

I was hoping some of you might have some knowledge about this coin.

- I noticed on the obverse "Nederl." and Google translate confirms "Netherlands" in Dutch is "Nederland." And then "Indies", which I assume refers to the Indonesian islands before they won their independence. Anything to add or is that pretty much it?

- 1/10 G is also on the obverse. I looked up Dutch currency, and it appears before they turned to the Euro in 2002 their monetary denomination was called the "guilder." But when I look into it further, I see nothing referencing a 1/10 guilder coin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_of_the_Dutch_guilder

The earliest mention of a guilder on the above page is 1960, and all were minted at the Bank of the Netherlands. This one is 1942, and has what appears to be an "S" mint mark?

Last, I notice on the slab label it says, "N.E. Indies." Does that mean it was primarily used in the north-eastern Indonesian islands?

Last, the reverse has characters I don't recognize. Indonesia uses the same Roman alphabet we do, and I think so do the Dutch. They appear to me to be Arabic, which might make sense if it were of Indonesian make (they're majority Muslim). But I assume it's of Dutch make, so what are those characters on the reverse?

Thank you for any and all help and information!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1942-S-NETHERLANDS-EAST-INDIES-NGC-MS61-Silver-1-10-Gulden-Indonesia-/191073687502?ViewItem=&item=191073687502&nma=true&si=lqgDRDloTUjqfJ2CtsPKl9laZEo%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

ajaan

Coin is from the Netherlands East Indies. Your 1/10 Gulden was minted in San Francisco since in 1942 the Japanese controlled the area. The coin is 0.7200 silver with 0.0289 ASW.

USArmyParatrooper

<< <i>Coin is from the Netherlands East Indies. Your 1/10 Gulden was minted in San Francisco since in 1942 the Japanese controlled the area. The coin is 0.7200 silver with 0.0289 ASW. >>



Minted in San Francisco? Cool! I didn't know that. Thank you for helping out.

Do you know about the writing on the reverse? What language it is?

ajaan

In the center it's Arabic.

spinaker2000

Yep, you get it all with those coins.

lordmarcovan

Yep- look to the right of the date. The "S" mintmark is right there. The US Mint struck a lot of Allied coinage during the war.

Sapyx

<< <i>In the center it's Arabic. >>


The alphabet in the central circle is a modified Arabic alphabet, but the language is actually Malay. Malay-Arabic script has a few additional letters not included in the standard Arabic alphabet. In this case, the words read "saper sapuloh rupiyah", literally "one-divided-by ten rupiah" - "rupiah" being the Malay name for the Dutch gulden (or guilder) and the current name for the Indonesian currency unit. Technically, these coins are not "Dutch gulden" but "Netherlands Indies gulden", which has a separate Wikipedia page.

The script around the outside says exactly the same thing in the Malay language, "saper sapuloh rupiyah", only written in the Javanese script instead.