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5 Dollars
| Issuer | Treasury, Levuka (Kingdom of Fiji) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1871 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Plain typeset note within a fine guilloche border, the upper portion bearing the abbreviated issuing authority designation 'C.R.' at centre with 'Levuka' and manuscript date to the right, and a small legal tender clause in the upper left corner. The central text, set in bold letterpress, reads 'TREASURY NOTE, FIVE DOLLARS.' followed by a promissory clause in italic script entitling the bearer to receive five dollars from the Treasury at Levuka. The lower margin carries manuscript 'Entered' and 'Treasurer' designations flanking the foot of the note, with the printer's imprint along the very bottom edge. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | C.R. Levuka TREASURY NOTE, FIVE DOLLARS. The bearer of this is entitled to receive from the Treasury, Levuka, FIVE DOLLARS. Entered Treasurer THIS NOTE is a legal tender, and payable at the Treasury, Levuka, on the First Tuesday in any Month |
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| Comments |
Fiji's earliest paper currency predates the cession of the islands to Britain by three years — this note was issued under the short-lived constitutional monarchy of Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau, whose government was perpetually cash-starved and dependent on settler commerce centered at Levuka. The Treasury notes of 1871 were a practical necessity, not a formal banking exercise, and the Gazette Office that printed them was primarily a newspaper operation.
Signatories Burt and Hennings were colonial officials rather than professional bankers. Surviving examples are extraordinarily rare; the entire Cakobau government apparatus collapsed in 1874, and most of its financial instruments were rendered void almost immediately upon cession.