100 Pa'anga

Thomas De La Rue has printed Tongan banknotes for decades, and this 2023 issue continues that relationship without interruption. The 100 Pa'anga sits at the top of Tonga's circulating denomination range — a country with a small but dollarized-adjacent economy where the pa'anga has been pegged to a basket of currencies, heavily weighted toward the Australian and New Zealand dollar, since the late 1990s.

The TBB#230 reference suggests this is a relatively recent catalog entry, likely reflecting a design refresh rather than a complete series overhaul. Cotton substrate with watermark and security thread places it firmly in De La Rue's mid-tier security specification — above polymer substitution, but without the full SAFEGUARD® thread package seen on higher-risk denominations elsewhere in the region.