The pound was the currency of
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
until 1967. It was subdivided into 20
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s, each of 12
pence
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...
.
History
Initially,
sterling coins and notes circulated. This was supplemented, from 1921, by banknotes issued by the Tongan government. The notes were denominated in
sterling and included the rather unusual denomination of 4
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s. When the
Australian pound
The pound ( Sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. As with other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol ...
devalued relative to
sterling at the beginning of the
Great depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, this caused considerable confusion on the smaller islands of the
British Western Pacific. In the mid-1930s people in these islands were asking whether or not their
sterling accounts were to be considered as the pound sterling, or the Australian pound. Clarification was sought. In 1936, the Tongan pound was devalued to 16/– stg, or £1/5/– = £1 stg, thus setting the Tongan pound equal to the
Australian pound
The pound ( Sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. As with other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol ...
. Existing banknotes had the word "sterling" overstamped, later issues omitted the word altogether. In 1967, the pound was replaced by the
pa'anga at a rate of £1 = T$2.
For a more general view of history in the wider region, see
British currency in Oceania Sterling was the currency of many, but not all parts of the British Empire. This article looks at the history of sterling in the Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific region.
History
The British victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 heralded t ...
.
Banknotes
In 1921, £5 notes were introduced, followed by notes for 4/– and 10/– and £1 in 1933. These four denominations were issued until 1966.
See also
*
Economy of Tonga
Tonga's economy is characterized by a large nonmonetary sector and a heavy dependence on remittances from the half of the country's population that lives abroad, chiefly in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Much of the monetary secto ...
References
*
External links
Currencies of the British Empire
Currencies of the Commonwealth of Nations
Currencies of Oceania
Modern obsolete currencies
Pound
1967 disestablishments
History of Tonga
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