Pak Harto's Picture, This Rp850,000 Coin Wrapped In 50 Grams Of Gold

President Soeharto's special edition gold coins (Photo: Bank Indonesia)

JAKARTA - The President of the Republic of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998, HM Soeharto, was known as the Father of National Development because he was considered to have played a major role in the development of post-independence infrastructure.

This contribution he made during almost 32 years as the number one person in this country. As a token of appreciation, Bank Indonesia (BI) in 1995 issued a special edition coin with the image of Suharto.

Quoting the official website of the central bank, the launch of the special edition money coincided with the 50th Indonesian Independence Day which fell in the same year. In his explanation, BI revealed that the image of the face of this coin still bears the state symbol, namely Garuda Pancasila.

Then, there is a line of 50 stars forming a circle on the outer side of the face of the coin which symbolizes 50 years of Indonesian independence.

Then, the Bank Indonesia text along with the publication year of 1995 and the nominal text of 8,50000 Rupiah were also engraved on the same side.

On the back of the coin, a carving of Suharto is clearly visible dominating this side. The DHN-45 logo complete with the text of Fifty Years of Indonesian Independence completes the aesthetic of the coin. There is also a circle of 50 stars like the face which adds to the aura of exclusivity of BI's special edition money.

Furthermore, on the side there are five lines at four different points to delimit the Perum Peruri logo, 50 g text which means 50 grams, and a unique five digit serial number.

At that time, Bank Indonesia released this money with a value of Rp. 850,000. Meanwhile, the valuable content embedded in it is 23 carat gold weighing 50 grams.

Actually, money cannot be used as an instrument for storing wealth because its value will be eroded due to inflation that occurs every year. However, this BI special edition currency is quite different because it contains precious metal in the form of gold which serves as a hedging tool.

Apart from all these things, this limited edition coin is actually the perfect medium for storing all the golden memories about Pak Harto.