Coins of the rupiah

A variation of the 1952 50 sen coin was issued in gold with an official value of 25 rupiah (although no value on the coin). The coin varied from the 50-sen by featuring the logo "BEKERDJA-MENABUNG-MEMBANGUN" and the Garuda emblem instead of the year and denomination. Like the other 1951–1952 coins, this one has the mintmark of Utrecht.

Indonesians have an old proverb: "SeRinggit Si Dua Kuapang, SeTali Si Tiga Uang" which means: "1 ringgit is 2 kupangs, 1 tali is 3 moneys". The proverb refers to the Indonesian names of coins and currency units before 17 August 1945. As Widarto claims[2] keping also cepeng, hepeng = 1/4 sen (cent), peser = 1/200 rupiah = 1/2 sen, sen = 1/100 rupiah, pincang = 1 1/2 sen[3] but no coin was ever issued in this value, gobang = 1/40 rupiah = 2 1/2 sen, kelip = 1/20 rupiah = 5 sen, ketip also picis, ketit = 1/10 rupiah = 10 sen, tali = 1/4 rupiah = 25 sen = 3 uang which means money, ukan also ukon[4] = 1/2 rupiah = 50 sen, rupiah was a value equal to the 1 guilder of Hindia-Belanda, the Netherlands Indies, kupang = 1/2 ringgit = 1 1/4 rupiah, benggol = seringgit = 1 ringgit = 2 1/2 rupiah = 2 1/2 Netherlands Indies guilder. The uang although it means money in Indonesian was merely a value of 1/3 tali = 8 1/3 sen but no coin was ever issued in this value. The Kupang gave its name to an Indonesian city in southwest of Timor. The coin was made of gold, circulated in Aceh, Sulawesi and Malayan states in some forms, for centuries.

In 1963 Indonesia Issued a coin of 2 1/2 rupiah depicting Sukarno in two forms, one of the coins was intended for West Irian, the other was intended for entire Indonesia, but both coins were minted in very limited quantities. Their values according to Krause catalogue are US$290[5] for the first coin and US$100 for the Irian coin.[6][7][8] While NGC online catalogue evaluate one of the coins as worth US$290.[9] West Irian coin is evaluated as US$100,[10] and never placed into circulation, maybe because of hyperinflation that ruled Indonesian economy in Sukarno era, especially during the years 1959 to 1965.

With the raging inflation of the 1960s very much under control at this point, coin issuing resumed after a 10-year hiatus, and coins were issued on 1 January 1971, of denominations 1, 2 and 5 rupiah, all in aluminium. 10, 25, and 50 rupiah coins were added, in cupro-nickel, on 5 April 1971. The coins featured on the obverse 'Bank Indonesia' a large '1' with 'rupiah' underneath and the year '1970' (1, 2, and 5 rupiah) or '1971' (10, 25, 50 rupiah).

The reverse of the coins showed "Rp 1", "Rp 5", "Rp 10", "Rp 25", "Rp 50", plus various designs: white-browed fantail (1rp), rice and cotton stalk (2rp), black drongo bird (5rp), rice and cotton stalk with Indonesian wording "TINGKATKAN PRODUKSI SANDANG PANGAN" ("increase the product of clothing and food") (10rp), Victoria crowned pigeon (25rp), and greater bird of paradise (50rp). The final mintages of these coins were: 136 million (1 rupiah), 139 million (2 rupiah), 448 million (5 rupiah), 286 million (10 rupiah), 1.22 billion (25 rupiah) and 1 billion (50 rupiah).

The 10 rupiah coin was issued as part of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization coins and medals program, an international issue by ultimately 114 countries. A variety of coin sets were sold to coin collectors to raise money for the UN's food program. In addition to the sale to collectors, the vast majority of the 10 rupiah coins were used within Indonesia - in addition to some rarer coins (none of which were issued in Indonesia) the FAO wanted low denomination circulating coinage that called for increasing food production.

At the time the exchange rate was 378 rupiah to the US$, so the smallest coin was worth approximately 1/4 of a US cent (note however that the 1 and 2 rupiah coins were never reissued, and hence the 5 rupiah coin was shortly to become the smallest denomination).

The coin selection was extended with a '1973'-dated cupro-nickel 100 rupiah coin of large size showing a Minangkabau tribal house, which was issued on 2 January 1974, at which time the coin was worth about US$0.24. A total of 913 million of these coins were minted, some of which are still found in circulation today.

As a result of the successful re-establishment of coinage in Indonesia, notes below 100 rupiah were withdrawn in Indonesia permanently from 1 September 1975 (at which point the exchange rate was fixed at 415 rupiah to the dollar, hence the largest denomination banknote to be withdrawn, the 50 rupiah note, was worth around US$0.10).

1971 INDONESIAN COINS:

50 Indonesian rupiah (1971).
Obverse: Greater bird-of-paradise on a branch and face value.	Reverse: Face value surrounded by country and year.
Total 1,035,435,000 coins minted in 1971. Coin Demonetized in 2002.

• 
  25 rupiah obverse
• 
  25 rupiah reverse

The 5 rupiah aluminium coin was revised dated 1974, the obverse changing only the date, but the reverse depicting the logo of KB ('Keluarga Berencana', aka family planning', a movement first established by the Indonesian government in 1970), i.e. a 2-parent, 2-child family with rice and cotton stalk and letters KB, with the text 'KELUARGA BERENCANA' ('family planning') 'MENUJU KESEJAHTERAAN RAKYAT' ('for the welfare of the people'). 448 million were minted.

The 10 rupiah was enlarged substantially dated 1974, with the composition changed to brass-clad steel, with the obverse unchanged, and the reverse changed to show the symbol of Tabanas, the government's 1970-established national savings scheme, and the slogan 'MENABUNG UNTUK MENUNJANG PEMBANGUNAN' ('save to support development') 223 million were minted.

Both of these coins were also sold to collectors as part of UN FAO sets.

The 1973 100 rupiah was given an updated reverse design in 1978, reading 'HUTAN UNTUK KESEJAHTERAAN' (Forest for welfare), '1978' and a motif of the gunungan wayang. The coin was also made thinner, although its dimensions did not change. This was the fourth and final Indonesian FAO coin.

• 
  100 rupiah 1978 obverse
• 
  100 rupiah 1978 reverse

The 1974 5 rupiah, meanwhile, was updated '1979', issued from March 1980, retaining its family planning message, but adding a circular decoration to both reverse and obverse of the coin, and being shrunk in size from 3.0 to 1.4 grams, presumably to cut the cost of production. 413 million coins were minted dated 1978, while 5 million were later issued dated 1995 and 1996.

The 1974 10 rupiah was similarly updated with decoration to '1979', enlarged with the composition changed to aluminium. 286 million were minted with this date. No 10 rupiah coins have since been issued.

From 1979, no new coin designs were made in Indonesia until 1991. For new coinage, the old style of a large number was replaced instead with the national Garuda Pancasila logo, with the year and "BANK INDONESIA" in smaller text below the emblem.

A 25 rupiah coin dated 1991 in aluminium, with images of nutmeg and its Indonesian text 'buah pala' and "Rp 25" on the reverse, was the smallest coin to be revised. The same coin was also minted 1992–1996, with mintages each year of 30, 64, 20, 250, 185, and 5 million. No 25 rupiah coins have been issued since 1996.

50 rupiah backed with a Komodo dragon and text 'Komodo' was issued in aluminium-bronze, dated 1991, and later 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Mintages were 67, 120, 300, then 590 million, then 150,000 each year.

• 
  50 rupiah 1991 obverse
• 
  50 rupiah 1991 reverse

The 100 rupiah, also aluminium-bronze was inscribed with an octagon, featuring the reverse design of running bulls with the text karapan sapi (bull racing). The coin was minted 1991 through 1998, with respective mintages of 94, 120, 300, 550, 799, 41, 150, and 56 million.

A 500 rupiah coin, also in aluminium-bronze, became the first new coin denomination since 1973, with a value at issue of around US$0.20. The coin depicted on its reverse the jasmine flower with the text "bunga melati". This coin was minted dated 1991 and 1992, with mintages of 71 million then 100 million.

1993 extended the range of coin denominations, adding 1,000 rupiah, then worth around US$0.40 a bimetallic coin of copper-nickel and aluminium-bronze. This coin depicts an oil palm 'kelapa sawit', and was minted 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2000.

The 500 rupiah coin was updated '1997' with a smaller jasmine leaf above a large central '500' with smaller lower 'rupiah', and the same aluminium-bronze material. The coin was minted dated 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.

The next coin design, was '1999' 50 rupiah coin, which was struck in aluminium showing the black-naped oriole. As with the 500 rupiah, the reverse of the coin has a larger numerical denomination. Dates are 1999, 2001 and 2002.

The 100 rupiah coin was also altered in the same manner to aluminium from '1999', depicting the palm cockatoo. Mint dates are each year from 1999 through 2005.

The next coin revisions in Indonesia are of 2003.

The 200 rupiah coin in aluminium, depicting the Bali starling 'jalak bali' was introduced as a new denomination in the same style as the 50 and 100 rupiah coins, dated '2003', while the jasmine 500 rupiah coin was again redesigned, with its metal changed to aluminium and its size enlarged.

The most recent coin revisions in Indonesia occurred in December 2016. The new coins were released along with the new banknotes. For the first time, there are actual people depicted in non-commemorative coins. Herman Johannes is depicted for 100 rupiah, Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo on 200 rupiah, T. B. Simatupang on 500 rupiah, and I Gusti Ketut Pudja on 1,000 rupiah coins.[11]