1 Kina - Elizabeth II Bird of Paradise

Papua New Guinea adopted the kina as its national currency upon independence from Australia in 1975, replacing the Australian dollar at par. The name derives from the Kuanua word for the gold-lipped pearl oyster shell, which functioned as a traditional store of value and bride price currency across much of the Highlands long before European contact. That etymology gives the denomination genuine cultural grounding that most modern coinage lacks.

KM#91 is a bullion-adjacent commemorative from the Bank of Papua New Guinea's ongoing numismatic program, which has leaned heavily on the bird of paradise motif since the series inception — the bird appears on the national flag and has anchored PNG's collector coinage for decades.