URIPS3

Uang Republik Indonesia Propinsi Sumatra (URIPS) 1947-1948

Secrets of Bukittinggi’s paper money serial numbers, part 3

April 2008
By Rob Huisman

Last week I visited the Maastricht paper money bourse and fortunately I was able to acquire a large number of Bukittinggi paper money notes.
Together with the material that I collected over the past years, I finally succeeded to figure out the secret coding that is hidden in the serial numbers.
Having some experience with decoding the ORI serial numbers some time ago, and now having enough Bukittinggi material available, I spent a week studying all the numbers, varieties and trying to find the logic. Athough there are still some blank area's, I am convinced that the below overview of the January 1, 1948 issue coding method is solid.

Emissie Oeang Republik Indonesia (URIPS), Bukittinggi, Sumatra, 1 January 1948, T.N. Hasan

1 (Satu) Rupiah, 1 January 1948 (KUKI H-519)

Obverse and reverse printed in brown (varying from light brown to dark brown).

This serial number has 3 varieties:

A) 5 numbers and 3 characters printed in black in the upper right quadrant of the obverse. In the lower left quadrant only the number is printed. The 1st and 3rd characters are capitals and the 2nd character is in lower case.

B) 5 numbers and 3 characters printed in black in the upper right quadrant of the obverse. The 1st and 3rd characters are capitals and the 2nd character is in lower case.

C) 5 numbers, 3 characters and 1 number printed in black in the upper right quadrant of the obverse. The 1st and 3rd characters are capitals and the 2nd character is in lower case. The three characters are underlined and in the middle below the underline a number "2" is printed.

The serial number contains a specific code, which is a fixed relation between the first number and the three characters as outlined in below table:

1st number

2nd character

1st character

3rd character

5 (Lima) Rupiah, 1 January 1948 (KUKI H-520)

Obverse and reverse printed in green (varying from light green to dark green).

This serial number has 3 varieties:

A) 5 numbers and 3 characters printed in red in the upper right quadrant of the obverse. In the lower left quadrant only the number is printed. The 1st and 3rd characters are capitals and the 2nd character is in lower case.

B) 5 numbers and 3 characters printed in red in the upper right quadrant of the obverse. The 1st and 3rd characters are capitals and the 2nd character is in lower case.

C) 5 numbers, 3 characters and 1 number printed in red in the upper right quadrant of the obverse. The 1st and 3rd characters are capitals and the 2nd character is in lower case. The three characters are underlined and in the middle below the underline a number "2" is printed.

The serial number contains a specific code, which is a fixed relation between the first number and the three characters as outlined in below table:

1st number

2nd character

1st character

3rd character

10 (Sepuluh) Rupiah, 1 January 1948 (KUKI H-521)

Obverse and reverse printed in blue (varying from mid blue to purple). The obverse has an underprint in blue / grey with variations to green and yellow.

This serial number consists of 5 numbers and 3 characters printed in red in the lower left quadrant of the obverse. In the upper right quadrant only the number is printed. The 1st and 3rd characters are capitals and the 2nd character is in lower case.

The serial number contains a specific code, which is a fixed relation between the first number and the three characters as outlined in below table:

1st number

2nd character

1st character

3rd character

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