Catalog
20 Pa'anga
| Issuer | National Reserve Bank of Tonga |
|---|---|
| Year | 2023 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 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 | Predominantly brown. Central portrait vignette of King Tupou VI with the Tongan coat of arms to one side; medallion design within guilloche underprint. Bilingual inscriptions in English and Tongan appear throughout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Watermark portrait of King Tupou VI with electrotype NRBT and Cornerstones; 2.0 mm windowed red-to-green colour-shifting security thread with demetalized NRBT text. |
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| Comments |
De La Rue has printed Tongan currency continuously since the kingdom's first modern banknotes, making this 2023 issue part of one of the longer unbroken printing relationships in Pacific island currency history. The National Reserve Bank of Tonga was only established in 1989, having split from the Bank of Tonga, which itself had issued notes since the mid-1970s — the Pa'anga replacing the Tonga pound at par on decimalisation in 1967.
Paper composition at this denomination in 2023 is worth noting: most comparable small-island issuers had migrated to polymer by this point, making a paper substrate with only watermark and security thread protection a relatively modest specification for a new release.