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5 Pounds Sterling
| Issuer | Government of Tonga |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 180 × 95 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | £5 FIVE Government of Tonga Treasury Note The Government of Tonga Promises to Pay the Bearer Five Pounds Sterling on demand at the Treasury NUKUALOFA 1st. January, 1921. Thomas de la Rue, London |
| Reverse description | Printed in dark blue-black, the reverse is dominated by an elaborate symmetrical guilloche pattern composed of interlocking hexagonal and lobed medallions filled with fine lathe-work rosettes and engine-turned micropatterns. The denomination appears in all four corners as '£5' at upper-left and lower-right, and 'FIVE' at upper-right and lower-left. |
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| Comments |
Tonga issued its own pound-denominated notes from 1921 under direct government authority rather than through a chartered bank — an arrangement unusual for a Pacific territory of this size and one that reflected the kingdom's formal status as a British protectorate, not a colony. The Colonial Bank of Australasia and later the Bank of New Zealand operated on the islands, but neither held the note-issuing privilege.
De La Rue's involvement guaranteed technical quality, but surviving examples of P#4 are genuinely rare. The 1921 series had very limited print runs, and Tonga's small, cash-dependent economy meant notes at the five-pound level circulated hard when they did move.