The Museum Nasional has more than 17,112 Numismatic and Heraldic objects-500 of which are on public display. The Numismatic collection comprises Indonesian and foreign coins and valuable papers, whereas the Heraldic collection is made up of medals, emblems, stamps and amulets. These collections were started by Radermacher in 1778.
As recorded by ancient Javanese inscriptions, Indonesian currencies date back to the 8th century. These early coins were made out of gold and silver, and were known as masa, suwarna and dharana. They were utilized until the 15th century together with Chinese currency, although the latter continued to be used in Bali until the 1950s
During the Majapahit age, coins called gobog were also in circulation and in subsequent centuries, Islamic kingdoms such as Aceh, Palembang, Jambi and Banten produced their own currencies too. They were named after kings and were imprinted with the Islamic year (Hijrah) in Arab-Melayu letters.
Between the 16th and 20th centuries, each colony (Portuguese, Dutch, British and Japanese) had their own currency. As time passed, gold and silver coins gave way to paper notes.
The Musuem Nasional collects foreign currencies, including Dutch, British, Portuguese, Spanish, Indian, Chinese and Japanese coinage. Among the most interesting collections are knife money (tao chien or uang pisau), made in the 3rd century BC.