1/2 Pa'anga / 50 Seniti - King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV

Tonga's banknotes were issued directly by the government rather than a central bank until the National Reserve Bank of Tonga was established in 1989 — an unusual arrangement that persisted well into the modern era and gives this series its distinctive "Government of Tonga" authority line. The 1/2 Pa'anga denomination itself is an oddity; fractional banknotes are rare in Pacific currency, and the parallel 50 Seniti designation reflects the decimal structure introduced with the pa'anga in 1967, replacing the old Tongan pound at a rate of two pa'anga to one pound.

Thomas De La Rue supplied the entire series through this period, a relationship Tonga maintained for decades.