Coinage of Tonga

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Dudley Moore Blakely and his wife Elsa.

Dudley Moore Blakely (1902-1982) was an American.

He was a painter, illustrator and sculptor with Tongan connections.


He designed the reverses of the 1 and 2 seniti coins.

Both reverses featured the same tortoise design.

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Tonga, 50 seniti, 1967.

The initials DB appear on the designs showing the national seal.

They were sculpted by Mr Dudley Moore Blakeley.

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The coins of the 1967 set.

This was a one-year set only.

It commemorated the late Queen Salote.

The coin series of 1968 did not carry her portrait.

However, it retained the reverse designs of the 1967 set.

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King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV.

Taufa'ahau Tupou IV was crowned King of Tonga on his 49th birthday, 4 July 1967.

Various coins were issued to celebrate this.

Some were circulation coins and others were collector coins only.

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Obverse of the commemorative coins of 1967.

A set of commemorative coins was issued for the King's coronation.

The King's portrait appeared on the common obverse.

The portrait was designed by Maurice Meers.


Mr. Meers was a graphic designer from Walsall, England.

He also designed stamps for Tonga.

The design was modelled by Ernest Hyde.

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The circulation commemoratives.

The circulation commemoratives were made of copper-nickel.

They consisted of 20 and 50 seniti and 1 and 2 pa'anga coins.

Their reverse designs showed the national seal.

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Tonga, quarter hau, 1967.

The three bullion coins were minted in palladium - a world first - with the edge inscription "Historically the First Palladium Coinage". They were minted in denominations of "QUARTER HAU", "HALF HAU" and "HAU". The hau was a special denomination created for the coins and was equal to 100 pa'anga. All the coins showed the special coronation portrait of the king on the obverse, whilst the reverse showed the national seal as usual.

Curiously, some of the bullion coins came with special counter marks on the obverse. Here you see an image of one example.

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NEW CIRCULATION SERIES OF 1968




Tonga, 5 seniti, 1968.

In 1968 a new circulation series was issued.

It showed a standard portrait of the king.

It was designed by Maurice Meers and modelled by Ernest Hyde.


The denominations ranged from 1 seniti to 2 pa'anga.

The reverse designs were identical to those on the 1967 circulation coins.


A 2 pa'anga circulation  coin was also added.

It weighed 42 grams and was 45 mm in diameter.

It showed the national seal on the reverse.

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Obverses of the 1968 set.

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The reverses of the 1968 set.

NOTE: The 2 pa'anga circulation coin is not shown here.

The reverse designs of the 1967 and 1968 circulation sets had good points and bad points. The tortoise design is an attractive one, but why did it have to appear on two denominations? The 5 and 10 seniti coins likewise share a common reverse design - a rather dull and old-fashioned design, moreover. The 20 and 50 seniti and the 1 and 2 pa'anga all share the national seal as the reverse design.

A different design for each denomination would have made the set look more interesting. Besides, the three basic reverse designs do not go well together: the relatively realistic tortoise next to the old fashioned double sprays of leaves, and then a quartet of national seals.

See also:  Circulation sets with poorly unified design.

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Specifications of Tonga's 1968 Circulation Coinage

VALUE	METAL	DIAMETER	WEIGHT
1 seniti	Bronze	17.5 mm	2.6 g
2 seniti	Bronze	21 mm	3.9 g
5 seniti	Copper-nickel	19.4 mm	2.8 g
10 seniti	Copper-nickel	23.6 mm	5.6 g
20 seniti	Copper-nickel	28.5 mm	11.3 g
50 seniti	Copper-nickel	34.5 mm	18.1 g
1 pa'anga	Copper-nickel	38.7 mm	28.3 g
2 pa'anga	Copper-nickel	45 mm	42.1 g

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THE 2 PA'ANGA CIRCULATION COINS OF 1967 AND 1968

Tonga, 2 pa'anga, 1967.   Coronation commemorative.




Tonga, 2 pa'anga, 1968.   Regular circulation issue.

Tonga issued its first circulation 2 pa'anga coin in 1967.

It commemorated the coronation of King Tupou IV.

The coin did indeed circulate.


Its face value was the highest of all circulation coins in 1967.

The coin was also extremely large and heavy.

It weighed 42 grams and had a diameter of 45 mm.

The 2 pa'anga coin of 1967 was a one-year type only.

In 1968 a regular version was issued.

That coin type was issued through to 1974.


The two coin types had the same specifications.

Only their obverse design was different.

To date, these were the only ever circulation 2 pa'anga coins.

New 2 pa'anga types were minted in 1975 and 1981.

These appeared to be part of the design series of those years.


In fact, they were collector coins only.

I will post images of them later in this topic.

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TONGA'S LARGE COIN SIZES EXPLAINED

Tonga became a British protectorate in 1905.

The UK pound sterling was then introduced in Tonga.


From 1921, UK currency was supplemented by Tongan banknotes.

The banknotes were issued by the Tongan government.


At first, the Tongan pound was equal in value to the UK pound.

Then, the Australian pound was devalued because of the Great Depression.

The Tongan pound was then also devalued in 1936.

Thereafter the Tongan pound was linked to the Australian pound.

The Australian coinage was largely based on the UK coinage.

Their coins mainly shared the same physical specifications.

Their coins were generally larger than those of other countries.


Australia adopted a decimal coinage in 1966.

One old Australian pound was equal to two Australian dollars.

A shilling was now equal to 10 Australian cents.

Two shillings were now equal to 20 Australian cents.

The 10 cents coin also inherited the shilling's size and weight.

The 20 cents coin inherited the 2 shilling coin's size and weight.


These two coins acted as a bridge to the new system.

They aided the transition to the new decimal system.

However, they were relatively large and heavy.

Their size and weight was inherited from the UK coinage.

In 1967 Tonga issued its own decimal currency.

The Tongan pa'anga was equal to the Australian dollar.

The pa'anga was divided into 100 seniti.


Tonga based its coin specifications on the Australian ones.

To this day, Australia has retained its large and heavy coins.

The UK reduced some coin sizes in the 1990s.

Tonga did not reduce its coin sizes until 2015.

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NEW COIN TYPES OF 1974

In 1974 Tonga issued two new coin types.

Both were one-year types only.

A brass 1 seniti coin was issued.

It replaced the bronze version.

However, only the metal content was changed.


The new coin retained the same size and shape.

It also retained the same obverse and reverse designs.

A new 50 seniti coin was issued.

It was now 12-sided instead of round.

It was slightly smaller and lighter.


However, the new coin was still in copper-nickel.

The obverse and reverse designs remained the same.


The 50 seniti coin now resembled its Australian counterpart.

The Australian 50 cents coin was also 12-sided.


These were the final coins of the series begun in 1968.

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Tonga, 1 seniti, 1974.

The 1 seniti coin was minted in brass in 1974 only.

Otherwise it remained unchanged.


The 2 seniti coin also featured the tortoise design.

That coin, however, remained in bronze.