Catalog
2 Pa'anga
| Issuer | National Reserve Bank of Tonga |
|---|---|
| Year | 2009 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 2 Paʻanga |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Portrait vignette of King Siaosi (George) Tupou V in full military dress uniform with decorations and medals occupies the right half of the note against a deep red guilloche underprint, with the royal coat of arms below. The left half carries a large intricate rosette guilloche in pink and orange tones, with two manuscript signatures below captioned PALEMIA 'O TONGA and MINISITA PA'ANGA. Denomination numeral '2' appears in red at lower left and upper right corners. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | National Reserve Bank of Tonga This Note Is Legal Tender In Tonga Pa'anga 'E Ua |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Thomas De La Rue has printed Tongan currency since the kingdom's first modern banknotes, giving the relationship an unusual continuity for a Pacific issuer of this size. The 2 Pa'anga denomination has historically been the workhorse of everyday Tongan commerce, where the informal economy and remittances from diaspora communities in New Zealand and Australia drive much of actual cash demand.
Pick 38 is a relatively modest security specification for its period — watermark and thread only, without the optically variable devices De La Rue was fitting to contemporaneous issues for larger clients. Whether a cost decision or a reflection of low counterfeiting risk in a small island economy is not recorded in the published literature.