1 Franc

Wartime necessity drove this note into existence. With French Oceania cut off from metropolitan France following the fall of Paris in 1940, local authorities could no longer rely on centrally printed currency. Ferrand's print shop in Papeete — a commercial printer by trade — became the de facto security printer for the territory by default rather than design.

The embossed seal was the principal anti-counterfeiting measure, a modest safeguard that reflected both the limited resources available and the relatively small population this currency needed to serve.