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Jambi Village Discovers Treasure Trove in Dutch-Era Safe
August 13, 2011

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Ghosts, treasure and … cattle taxes? Cap’n Sparrow ain’t got jack on these guys.

Residents of Koto Baru Hiang village in Kerinci district, Jambi, said on Friday that they had unearthed a veritable treasure trove of World War II-era money from an old safe.

Ahmad Nasril, the village head, said the discovery was made when the safe, which had been sitting unused in the village hall as long as anyone could remember, was opened during recent renovation work.

“The safe had always just been hidden away in a room in the village hall that people believed was haunted by a ghost, because it was always so dark,” he said.

The safe’s rediscovery came after the village received funding to renovate the hall, itself a relic of the Dutch colonial era. Part of the work involved fixing up a section of the ceiling that had collapsed in the very room where the safe was located.

“When we finally brought the safe out into the light of day, we used the chance to prize it open,” Nasril said. “That’s when we found several bundles of old money from the Japanese colonial era.”

The Japanese occupation of Indonesia lasted from 1942 until the end of the war in 1945.

Nasril said that while the money did not bear any dates for when it was printed, it could be tracked to the Japanese occupation because it read: “ De Japansche Regeering Betaalt Toonder Half Gulden ,” or “The Japanese Government Will Pay the Bearer Half a Guilder.”

However, he said the total value of the money remained unknown because many of the notes had been damaged by mold, attributed to a half-century of humidity and rainwater leaking into the safe.

Nasril said the safe also contained documents with the old Indonesian spelling, including a notice decreeing the implementation of a livestock tax, dated July 1, 1947.

“This particular document shows just how compliant the Kerinci people were about paying taxes back then, even if it was to an occupying authority,” he said.

The village hall had been used as an administrative office by the Dutch, who reoccupied the archipelago shortly after the Japanese left in 1945. Later it was used as a center for the traditional rulers of the district.

Nasril said the money and documents would be stored at his house for safekeeping while the Kerinci administration was notified about the discovery.

“This is clearly a very significant find for us, especially coming so close to Independence Day, when we look back at our history,” he said.

Antara