1 Pound - World War II Emergency Issue

The 1942 Fiji £1 was rushed into circulation as part of a broader Allied currency stabilization effort in the Pacific following Japan's rapid advances through the region. Fiji itself was a critical staging point for Allied forces — American troops were present on the islands by early 1942 — and maintaining a functioning local currency was considered operationally important.

De La Rue printed this series under wartime conditions in London, when the firm was simultaneously fulfilling emergency currency contracts for multiple colonial governments whose normal supply chains had been disrupted. The "Emergency Issue" designation reflects genuine administrative urgency, not a printing variation.