Catalog
20 Pounds
| Issuer | Government of Fiji |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1928 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | No reverse image available; the reverse design details of this issue are not confirmed from available catalog sources. |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Watermarked cotton paper consistent with De La Rue security printing practice of the period. |
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| Comments |
Fiji's Government Note issue — not a central bank series, but notes issued directly by the colonial administration — reflects the territory's unusual monetary position in the early twentieth century. The British pound was legal tender, but shipping hard currency to a remote Pacific colony was costly and unreliable, making locally issued government paper a practical necessity rather than a monetary experiment.
Thomas De La Rue's involvement guarantees a high standard of intaglio work, though at the twenty-pound level, circulation was almost certainly confined to inter-merchant and government transactions. A laborer in 1920s Fiji would never handle one. Surviving examples are rare precisely because so few were printed and fewer still left active commercial hands.