5 Kina large white background

Papua New Guinea's first banknote series, introduced at independence on 16 September 1975, replaced the Australian dollar at par — a straightforward conversion that nonetheless required a new central bank and an entirely new currency system to be operational from day one. The kina itself takes its name from the traditional shell currency of the Highlands, a deliberate nod to indigenous exchange traditions at the moment of becoming a sovereign monetary authority.

Note Printing Australia, then operating as the Reserve Bank of Australia's printing works, produced this inaugural series. The relationship was practical: PNG had no domestic printing capacity, and Australia was the obvious choice given the administrative history.