10 Shillings

The Government of Tonga — rather than a central bank — remained the direct issuing authority for its paper currency well into the postwar decades, an arrangement that reflected the kingdom's status as a British protected state rather than a colony proper. Tonga never surrendered full monetary control to the Colonial Office, which made its currency series legally and administratively distinct from most Pacific issue of the period.

Thomas De La Rue held the contract throughout the note's long run. The span from 1939 to 1966 covers the entire Second World War, during which Allied military activity in the Pacific disrupted regional currency supplies severely — Tongan notes circulated under considerable pressure during those years.