The Riau rupiah was a distinct currency of the

Riau Archipelago The Riau Archipelago is a ''geographic'' term (as opposed to administrative region) for the core group of islands within the Riau Islands Province in Indonesia, and located south of Singapore and east of Riau on Sumatra. Before the province of Ri ...

between 1963 and 1964. It replaced the

Malaya and British Borneo dollar The Malaya and British Borneo dollar (; ) was the currency of Federation of Malaya, Malaya, Colony of Singapore, Singapore, Crown Colony of Sarawak, Sarawak, Crown Colony of North Borneo, North Borneo, Brunei and the Riau archipelago from 1953 ...

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, issued and controlled by Bank Indonesia. Its name is derived from the Sanskrit word for silver, (). Sometimes, Indonesians also inform ...

at the rate of 1 Riau rupiah = 14.7 Indonesian rupiah.

History

Riau, though part of Dutch and Indonesian territory, was economically under the influence of neighbouring

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

In order to affirm its fiscal stake in the region, a decree was passed on 15 October 1963 to replace the

(the circulating currency) with an Indonesian-issued currency, the Riau rupiah, which replaced the dollar at par. Although the Riau rupiah resembled the

in appearance, it had a much higher value. Malayan money was withdrawn from 1 November 1963. The Riau rupiah was exchangeable as a foreign currency with the Indonesian rupiah. The Riau rupiah was much shorter lived than the

West Irian rupiah The West Irian rupiah was a distinct currency of West Irian (formerly West New Guinea) between 1963 and 1973. It replaced the West New Guinea gulden at par and was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah at the rate of 1 West Irian rupiah = 18.9 Indonesia ...

(which circulated from May 1963 until 1971), and, by Presidential decree effective from 1 July 1964, the Riau rupiah was no longer a valid currency, being replaced by the

at a rate of 1 Riau rupiah = 14.7 Indonesian rupiah

Coins

Coins were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 sen. All were minted in aluminium and dated 1962. They bore the identifying inscription "Kepulauan Riau" on their edge (cf. West Irian rupiah#Coins).

Banknotes

Bank Indonesia Bank Indonesia (BI) is the central bank of the Republic of Indonesia. It replaced in 1953 the Bank of Java (, DJB), which had been created in 1828 to serve the financial needs of the Dutch East Indies. History Bank of Java King William ...

notes were printed by Indonesian printer Pertjetakan Kebajoran dated "1960" with the overprint 'Riau' in denominations of 5, 10 and 100 rupiah, all carrying the image of President

Sukarno Sukarno (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 the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

but with colour and other design differences. Lower denomination notes, under Indonesian (and previously

Netherlands Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which declared independence on 17 August 1945. Following the Indonesian War of Independe ...

) law were the issuing privilege of the Indonesian government, and for Riau bore the date "1961" with the overprint "Riau", in 1 and 2 ½ rupiah denominations. Identical notes, but for the overprint, were used for the

in 1964. The five notes issued in Riau, the 5, 10, and 100 rupiah notes, minus the "Riau" overprint, plus the 1 and 2½ rupiah note designs, redated "1964", were then also used as Indonesian rupiah notes in 1965. Green (1) and blue (2½) variants of the 1 and 2½ notes had also incidentally been printed, 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, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...

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

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riau Rupiah Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Indonesia Economy of Indonesia 1963 establishments in Indonesia 1964 disestablishments in Indonesia 1960s in economic history Rupee