Tuvalu: unadopted designs

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The Gilbert and Ellice Islands were a British protectorate from 1892 and a colony from 1916. A referendum was held in December 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have their own administration. As a consequence of the referendum, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony ceased to exist on 1 January 1976 and the separate countries of Kiribati and Tuvalu came into existence.

The Ellice Islands were renamed as Tuvalu, which became independent from Britain on 1 October 1978. The Gilbert Islands were renamed as Kiribati, which is apparently the local way of saying "Gilbert". Kiribati became independent on 12 July 1979.

Tuvalu previously used the Australian dollar but issued its first coinage in 1976. The Tuvaluan dollar was kept at par with the Australian dollar. The reverse designs of the coins were created by London goldsmith John Donald. They were modelled by English artist, sculptor and coin designer, Avril Vaughan.

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2 cents.  Butterfly fish. Not adopted. The legend "Tuvalu Islands" was incorrect but was later changed. There is much to learn when a new nation is born.

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An early 5 cents design showing an octopus.

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A shark on the 10 cents. This was later moved to the 5 cents.

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The crab was later moved to the 10 cents.

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The flying fish was later moved to the 20 cents.

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The stingray later moved to the 2 cents coin.

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The dollar was originally going to have a hole. The original design features a variety sea shells.

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This design shows a palm tree. It is not successful because of the hole.

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Eventually it was decided to feature a turtle on the dollar.

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The commemorative 5 dollars shows an outrigger.

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A design of a traditional meeting hut, with an open entrance, was meant for the commemorative gold 50 dollars.

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The Royal Mint contacted the experts at the Natural History Museum, London, for their thoughts. They had several criticisms, concerning the appearance (one or two creatures looked too "Disney-like"), anatomy and postures of the animals - too many to list.

The Royal Mint also contacted the Tuvaluans regarding the correctness of the outrigger designs. Their experts replied that they looked too much like the Kiribatese vessels, which were rather different. And they added other technical details - again, too many to list.

Meanwhile, the Royal Mint Advisory Committee liked the designs but thought they should show more background detail. Later they thought that Mr Donald had added maybe too much detail so asked him to remove some.

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1 cent. The shell of a Lambis millipeda: a millipede spider conch, which is a species of sea snail.

The RMAC thought it too detailed.

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The 1 cent design with less detail.