A part of me dies: the Rp1,000 bank note is to become history!

It’s a long standing joke in Aus that if you want to become a millionaire you simply take a holiday in Bali.

And for one crisp US$100 bill you will receive one million Indonesian rupiah – most likely 20xRp50,000 notes. Alternatively, of course you could take 100xRp10,000 notes or even – although this is taking it a bit far – 1000xRp1,000 bank notes!

But the glory days of the Rp1,000 bank note are now over and Bank Indonesia will gradually phase it out now that it has issued the new Rp2,000 note to replace it as the country’s smallest denominated bank note.
If, like me, you’ve been in Indonesia for some time, then you will find this pretty sad. Sure the Rp1,000 note ain’t worth much any more – about 10 cents – but it does have nostalgic value aplenty.

A number of years back, it used to be a “real” bank note of course, and prior to the financial crisis in 98 - when the exchange rate was around Rp2,200/USD - it was worth almost 50 cents. Hell: in those days you could actually buy something with it. And now it’s just the grubby little note that nobody wants.

But despite its imminent demise, I still reckon it’s worth keeping a handful of them tucked away somewhere.

Cos as a collectors item it’s gonna be worth a hell of a lot more than it is now!