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1 Pound
| Issuer | Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | GILBERT AND ELLICE ISLANDS COLONY THIS NOTE REPRESENTS A CHARGE UPON THE FUNDS OF THE GILBERT AND ELLICE ISLANDS COLONY GOVERNMENT IN THE SUM OF £1. 0s. 0d. ONE POUND £1. 0s. 0d. 1st January, 1942. Acting Resident Commissioner. Treasurer. |
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| Protection type | Embossed seal |
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| Comments |
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony issued this note under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Japanese forces occupied the Gilbert Islands in late 1941, and the colonial government — operating from whatever remained of its administrative footing — needed currency to function. This series was a direct wartime emergency measure, not a peacetime printing exercise.
The embossed seal as the primary security feature reflects the stripped-down production conditions of 1942. No intaglio, no watermarked paper from a specialist security printer — just an impressed seal, the kind of authentication a colonial office could apply locally without access to a professional banknote press.
Pick lists only a handful of surviving specimens, and the series has a documented scarcity that predates collector interest.