Nickel Voyageur Dollars!

If you try spending an old emission banknote in Indonesia, you'll get a funny look because barely anyone recognises what they are. My mum still has some of those old emission bills. I bet not many people remember that that was a real money design. I was still rather young back then and didn't really see money much so no, I don't remember either.
Out of the many people who saw my voyageur, only one person recognised it and that is because he inherited some silver voyageurs.

Guess what, actually the weird coinage in Indonesia is the thing that got me started collecting. You have common "white" aluminium coins, and uncommon "yellow" aluminium bronze coins. The yellow ones are what got me collecting. Half a can of coins I left back home. I remember I have some yellow Rp. 50 Komodo, and Rp 100 Karapan Sapi which were still shiny. The bimetallic Rp 1000 is an uncommon one too. I have one with me right now

The problem with Indonesia's money is that inflation is too fast. Just imagine, say 20-30 years ago you can get a bowl of bakso (food) for Rp 200. Now it's more than Rp. 5000.
I just did the math, and indonesian coins are withdrawn from circulation 17 1/13 years after minting is stopped. Makes sense enough if you lived before 1998 in Indonesia, you feel the big inflation then. It is up to 77.63% if what I search in Google is correct.

Practically everything is in mint state? Even circulated ones like mine?

I don't really get it, but okay.

Edit: Just came back from the bank. All the banks I went to has no more. They say, when they do get these, they go away very fast because many people want them. Same with silver circulating coins.

If you mean 30 years ago when you said back then then yes, since these are the only kind of 1 dollar coins until 1987. I guess part of why people stopped using them because now there's a smaller, lighter 1 dollar coin.

I don't know that either, all except for 1 people I know never even seen a coin that size before. Everyone I know is too young, I need to find an older person.
From what I read, I'll guess they weren't too popular since they were too big.

They were the only coin, but the $1 weren't used for transactions much back in 1968. Neither were 50c. But you could get them at banks, so they were acceptable.

Common use of those denominations predates my sentience.

I am 60 years old. Back in the 1960s when I was a teenager, the silver dollars and 50 cent pieces were around but not widely circulated. Because my father collected coins I saw them more. His parents had them somewhat too and we'd get a 50 cent piece for shovelling their walks from time to time.
My wife and I had a retail business in the the 1980s and somethimes I'd go to the bank and get 50 cent pieces just to hand out in change for fun. Many people would give us a strange look upon receiving them.

Cool, punman! You're a family of collectors!
I would love to see the people's confused faces when you give then an uncommon denomination. I expect it to be sort of like the bank teller's face when I first time ask them about 50-cent pieces.

john100, I guess they will be mini versions of voyageurs. I wonder what the 2-dollar coins will be called though? Double voyageur perhaps?
Back in Indonesia, you almost never see the bimetallic Rp.1000 coins, because they had a bill at the same time. Now they have the steel ones and no more Rp.1000 bills (bills were withdrawn, but I still have some back home). Not really having a point though, Rp.1000 is worthless, even though it looks like a lot of 0s. I think they will withdraw the bimetallic ones too sometime on the future since they are really thick and weigh twice the new ones.

True. I think the same specs (size and weight) as the loonie, but the Voyageur design.




The silver dollar DID circulate in Canada for at least 15-20 years with $1 bills.
The US had silver dollars too and they were a major denomination for a long time.

At some point people lost their distrust of paper, and the coin became less popular.

I'm amazed the vending machine industry in the US wants the trouble of bill readers, and not easy to handle coins.