PAʻANGA: COIN OF TONGA
2 pa’anga, 1981: Kingdom of Tonga
Coin of the FAO series (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Coins of this series were minted in many countries around the world (mostly during the second half of the 20th century).
Commemorative non-circulating very big coin.
WORLD FOOD DAY (World Food Day — an international day celebrated every year worldwide on 16 October to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945).
FAO minimized logo (Latin motto on the full version of the logo "Fiat Panis" — "Let there be Bread").
Pigs, chickens and cows on pastures (the meat of these domestic animals is the basis of the diet of the population of many countries of the world).
F · A · O - TONGA - 1981.
Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV — the King of Tonga, from 1965 until 2006.
Mintage: 15.000.
- Copper-nickel: 44.5 mm - 33 g
- Reference price: 11$
COIN PAʻANGA — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- KINGDOM OF TONGA (1967-...): pa'anga = 100 seniti
About the name of the coin paʻanga: the name of the paʻanga coin, according to some sources, translated from the Tongan language means a symbol of royal power.
However, there is a more likely version. According to it, paʻanga is the Tongan name for Entada phaseoloides (a bean-like vine producing large pods with large reddish-brown seeds). When strung together they are used as anklets, part of the dance costume. They were also used as playing pieces in a national ancient game.
Interestingly, just before the introduction of the national currency for Tonga, there was a long debate on the name of the new money. The quite logical option "dollar" (as in neighboring Australia) was rejected for linguistic reasons: in the local language there is a similar-sounding term "tola", which translates as "pig's snout".
