Fiji P-109a 2 Dollars ND 2007 VF Very Fine—Green—Elizabeth II—Children

A vivid green note from Fiji's Fifth Issue, issued 10 April 2007 and demonetized just six years later — one of the last Fijian banknotes to carry the mature portrait of Queen Elizabeth II before the republic's currency was redesigned. The reverse celebrates Fijian youth and national pride: schoolchildren at play, the Fiji National Stadium, and the volcanic silhouette of Mount Korobasanasaga.

Front

• Colors: green on multicolor underprint
• Mature bust of Queen Elizabeth II at right
• Arms (coat of arms of Fiji) at upper right
• Mohar (sovereign locket) at lower left — a traditional Fijian ceremonial ornament
• Novel (TDLR) serial numbering on both serial numbers
• Legend: This Note is Legal Tender in Fiji for TWO DOLLARS
• Signatures:
  • P-109a: Savenaca Narube, Gov., Reserve Bank of Fiji
  • P-109b: Barry Whiteside, Acting Gov., Reserve Bank of Fiji — not this note

Back

• Colors: multicolor
• Faces of an ethnically diverse group of children during school games
• Fiji National Stadium at left
• Mount Korobasanasaga at center right — a prominent volcanic peak on Viti Levu
• Legend: FIJI / TWO DOLLARS

Other Characteristics

• Varieties:
  • P-109a — ND(2007), Gov. Savenaca Narube, prefix CA–DF — this note
  • P-109ar — ND(2007), replacement note, prefix ZA
  • P-109as — ND(2007), specimen
  • P-109b — ND(2011), Acting Gov. Barry Whiteside, prefix DG–DT; intro 5.12.2011
  • P-109br — ND(2011), replacement note, prefix ZA
  • P-109bs — ND(2011), specimen
• Catalog numbers: P-109a; Numista N#207854
• Watermark: Fijian head and electrotype 2
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 131 × 67 mm
• Issuing entity: Reserve Bank of Fiji
• Printer: De La Rue (TDLR), London, United Kingdom
• Issued: 10 April 2007
• Demonetized: 31 March 2013
• Currency: Fijian Dollar (1969–date) — 1 dollar = 100 cents
• Official language: English, Fijian, Fiji Hindi

About Fiji

• Origin of name: "Fiji" is the Tongan pronunciation of the indigenous Fijian name Viti — the name of the main island, Viti Levu. European explorers adopted the Tongan form, and it stuck.
• Capital: Suva — city proper ~93,000; greater urban area ~330,000
  • Origin of name: From the Fijian word suva, meaning "a small mound" or possibly referring to a type of grass; the site was chosen as capital by the British in 1877 for its deep harbor.
• Population: ~930,000 (UN 2024) — comparable to Montana or Cyprus
• Area: 18,274 km² (7,056 mi²) — comparable to New Jersey or Kuwait
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$14,000 (IMF 2024)
• Main exports: Sugar, garments, gold, timber, fish, molasses, coconut oil
• Borders: No land borders — island nation in the South Pacific; neighbors include Vanuatu (west), Tonga (east), Tuvalu (north)
• Official/spoken languages: English (official); Fijian (iTaukei); Fiji Hindi
• Ethnicities: iTaukei Fijians (~57%); Indo-Fijians (~38%); other (~5%)
• Memberships: UN (1970); Commonwealth of Nations (1970; suspended 1987–1997 and 2009–2014 following coups); Pacific Islands Forum (founding member, 1971; hosts secretariat in Suva); WTO; G77
• Sovereignty:
  • Indigenous Fijian chiefdoms (pre-contact) — complex confederacies; Bau chiefdom dominant by early 19th century
  • European contact (1643) — Abel Tasman; later explored by Captain Bligh (1789, after the Bounty mutiny)
  • Cession to Britain (1874) — Chief Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau ceded the islands to Queen Victoria
  • British Crown Colony (1874–1970) — indentured Indian laborers brought to work sugar plantations (1879–1916), creating the Indo-Fijian community
  • Independence (10 October 1970) — within the Commonwealth, with Elizabeth II as head of state
  • Republic (1987) — following two military coups by Lt. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka; Fiji left the Commonwealth
  • Readmitted to Commonwealth (1997); further coups in 2000 and 2006
  • Republic of Fiji (1987–date) — this note issued during this period

Fiji Unfiltered

• Fiji has experienced four military coups since independence (1987 ×2, 2000, 2006) — more than almost any other Pacific nation, yet remains one of the region's most stable economies
• The Indo-Fijian community, descended from indentured laborers brought by the British, has faced systematic land and political discrimination since independence — a tension that underlies every coup
• Fiji is one of the world's largest exporters of bottled water (Fiji Water), despite many rural Fijians lacking reliable access to clean drinking water
• The Fijian military has contributed more peacekeepers per capita to UN missions than almost any country on Earth — Fijian soldiers have served in Lebanon, Sinai, Iraq, and beyond
• Cannibalism was practiced in Fiji into the 19th century; the last recorded case was 1867, when missionary Thomas Baker was killed and eaten — his boots, deemed indigestible, are on display in the Fiji Museum
• Rugby sevens is essentially a national religion; Fiji won Olympic gold in 2016 and 2020, defeating New Zealand and Argentina respectively

The Last Queen on Fijian Paper

By 2007, Fiji had been a republic for two decades — yet Queen Elizabeth II still graced its banknotes. The P-109 series was among the final Fijian issues to carry her portrait, a quiet anachronism in a nation that had formally severed its monarchical ties in 1987. When the Reserve Bank of Fiji redesigned its currency in 2012–2013, the Queen's image was retired from Fijian paper money for good. This note is a collector's document of that transition.

A Nation on a Note

The reverse tells a story of aspiration: schoolchildren at play, a national stadium, a volcanic peak — youth, sport, and landscape as national identity. The Fiji National Stadium in Suva hosted the 1963 South Pacific Games and remains the country's premier venue. Mount Korobasanasaga rises behind it all, a reminder that this is a volcanic archipelago of 330 islands, most of them uninhabited, scattered across 1.3 million square kilometers of the South Pacific.

De La Rue and the Art of Security Printing

De La Rue of London has printed banknotes for more countries than any other security printer in history — over 140 nations have trusted their currency to TDLR's presses. The novel serial numbering system on this note is a TDLR security feature, designed to deter counterfeiting. The Fijian head watermark and electrotype 2 add further layers of authentication. A short print run of six years (2007–2013) keeps circulated examples common but choice UNC survivors increasingly scarce.

Own this note and hold a piece of Fiji's complicated, coup-marked, rugby-mad, extraordinarily beautiful history — the last Queen on Fijian paper, still serene, still sovereign in image if not in law.