Owner Comments:
Netherlands East Indies - 1941S 1/4 G - KM #319 - Mintage: 5,053,000
Obverse: Crowned Shield from the coat of arms dividing the denomination
Obverse Legend: NEDERL. INDIE. (Netherlands Indies)
Reverse: Arabic text reiterating the denomination of the coin.
Reverse Legend: Javanese text reiterating the denomination of the coin.
Edge: Reeded
This coin was minted by the San Francisco mint during World War II for the Dutch colony now known as Indonesia, and it even bears the "S" mint mark to the right of the date. It also has the Palm tree privy mark which was used by the Dutch mints to distinguish similar looking coinage intended for the colonies from that intended for circulation in the The Netherlands. The privy mark on those coins is an acorn. The Palm tree was used on nearly all colonial coinage even though in this case there would have been no confusion given the reverse of this coin.
The primary element on the obverse is the central shield from the Dutch coat of arms topped by the Dutch royal crown. The background (field) of the shield is azure which is a dark royal blue that is represented by horizontal lines in engraving. Also part of the background is gold billetty which are vertically oriented gold blocks, twice as long as they are wide, arranged in rows but not directly underneath each other. A hatched pattern of dots is used in engraving to represent the gold color of the billets. The lion is rampant (standing on his back legs), crowned with a coronet, and is also gold with a red tongue and red claws. In his sinister (left front) paw he is holding seven silver arrows bound together with a gold ribbon, representing the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht. In his dexter (right front) paw he is brandishing a silver sword with a golden hilt representing the determination to defend their liberty.
This coin has the smallest mintage by far of all of the coins minted by the U.S. mints for circulation in the Netherlands East Indies. Despite a mintage of over five million, these coins are very difficult to obtain and finding high grade uncirculated specimens is very challenging. At the time I had this coin graded, it was
the finest known specimen. Since that time, more have been graded at MS64, and three at MS65 with none finer.
Date acquired: 5/8/2006 (raw coin)
Date graded: 9/28/2018 (self submitted to NGC)
Rev. 10/5/2023