| Description | The gulden was the unit of account of the Dutch East Indies from 1602 under the United East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie; VOC), following Dutch practice first adopted in the 15th century (gulden coins were not minted in the Netherlands between 1558 and 1681 and none circulated in the Indies until a century later). A variety of Dutch, Spanish and Asian coins were in official and common usage. After the collapse of the VOC at the end of the 18th century, control of the islands reverted to the Dutch government, which issued silver 'Netherlands Indies' gulden and fractional silver and copper coins until Indonesian independence in 1948.
Coinage was finally fully decimalised in 1854, with copper 1⁄2, 1 and 21⁄2 cents and silver 1⁄20, 1⁄10 and ¼ gulden (although the 1821-1840 coinage continued to circulate). |
|---|
