Country guide
Papua New Guinea
Shell money to decimal coinage: Papua New Guinea’s 1975 kina — birdwing butterflies, cassowaries, crocodiles, and a holed dollar, named for the pearl shell itself.
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Coin entries
Coins of Papua New Guinea
Every coin entry in this wiki — one tap to the full page.
History & collecting
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- Before 1975 the Australian pound, then the Australian dollar, circulated; New Guinea had also struck its own coins in 1929–1945.
- The kina and toea were introduced on 19 April 1975, replacing the Australian dollar at par (the Australian dollar stayed legal tender until 1 January 1976). 100 toea = 1 kina.
- The names come from traditional valuables: the kina is the pearl shell of the Highlands, and the toea another shell used in barter.
- Papua New Guinea became independent on 16 September 1975, months after its currency arrived.
- The 1975 coins: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 toea and 1 kina — wildlife reverses with the national crest on the obverse. The 1 and 2 toea were withdrawn in 2006.
- The Franklin Mint struck 1975 proof and mint sets of the new coinage under government authorization.
- 1975 first coinage: paradise birdwing butterfly (1 toea), spotted cuscus (10 toea), Bennett’s/dwarf cassowary (20 toea), and two New Guinea crocodiles on the holed 1 kina.
- 1980 50 toea: South Pacific Festival of Arts commemorative.
- Later commemoratives mark independence anniversaries and national events.
- 1975 first-year sets — circulation and Franklin Mint proofs.
- The holed 1 kina: the hole is original (a carryover from string-carry days), not damage — that’s the key knowledge on this coin.
- The wildlife reverses as a complete 1975 set.
- For every value question, work from live sold listings on the linked entries, not from printed price lists.
Real prices come from real sales. Check what Papua New Guinea coins are actually selling for right now.
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