Country guide
Tonga
From the 1921 pound to the 1967 pa’anga — Tonga’s coinage runs through Queen Salote’s first decimal bronze, FAO food-production themes, and the most unusually shaped circulating coins in the world.
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Coin entries
Coins of Tonga
Every coin entry in this wiki — one tap to the full page.
History & collecting
The story behind the coins, one tap away.
- The Tongan pound circulated from 1921, issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency; it was devalued in 1936 to Australian-pound parity.
- In 1967 the pa’anga replaced the pound at £1 = T$2 (100 seniti = 1 pa’anga). Coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 seniti plus 1 and 2 pa’anga were introduced.
- The first series bore Queen Salote Tupou III (reigned 1918–1965), two years after her death; from 1968 the portrait switched to Taufa’ahau Tupou IV.
- 1974: the 50 seniti went dodecagonal (twelve-sided). 1975: the FAO food-production series (“Fakalahi me’akai” — grow more food) with the king in military uniform. 1979: the 1 pa’anga went rectangular while the 2 pa’anga stayed round at 44.5 mm, with annually changing FAO reverses.
- The pa’anga coins lost out to their notes; production of the 1 and 2 pa’anga ended in the 1980s; the rectangular 1 pa’anga was demonetized on 1 October 2015. A hau equals 100 pa’anga and is issued as a commemorative only.
- 1967 first decimal: giant tortoise on the 1 and 2 seniti, wheat sheaf and stars on the 5 and 10, the Tongan arms on the higher values.
- 1975/1981 FAO series: food-production themes across the denominations.
- The shape experiments: dodecagonal 50 seniti, rectangular 1 pa’anga, and the giant round 2 pa’anga — among the most unusual circulating coins ever struck.
- 1967 first-year bronze seniti with the Salote portrait — the first decimal issue.
- The rectangular 1 pa’anga and the 44.5 mm 2 pa’anga: pure conversation pieces, hunted by shape.
- The annually changing FAO reverses make a completable variety set.
- For every value question, work from live sold listings on the linked entries, not from printed price lists.
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