Papua New Guinea’s Independence Notes

Next year, Papua New Guinea will release a 100-kina note to honor political leader Julius Chan, who shaped the nation’s early economic policies as its first finance minister and second prime minister. The new issue is a fitting way to commemorate his legacy, as his portrait will appear on the currency he helped introduce to the newly independent nation 50 years ago. 

Born on Tanga Island in Papua New Guinea to a Chinese father and indigenous mother just before World War II, Chan overcame discrimination to become one of the country’s longest-serving politicians. He represented his home province of New Ireland in parliament until he died in January 2025 at age 85. 

The Kina & Independence

Papua New Guinea is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific with a population of 10.6 million. Faced with the challenge of introducing a new currency while breaking away from Australia’s governance in 1975, the island’s leaders chose a name with specific cultural and historical meaning: the kina, a shell that was used as a traditional form of money into the 20th century. Each kina was divided into 100 toea, named for a smaller shell.

This past September, the country marked 50 years of independence with a commemorative 50-kina bank note. It features the founding prime minister, Michael Somare, and the national emblem, the Raggiana bird-of-paradise, which is native to the area’s tropical forests. The note also showcases a Queen Alexandra’s birdwing—the world’s largest butterfly—and a blue orchid, another national symbol. A new 50-toea coin, depicting the country’s flag, also marked the anniversary.

“The kina and the toea remain symbols of independence,” Bank of Papua New Guinea Governor Elizabeth Genia says. “The unfinished business of independence is to ensure every kina and every toea earned brings real benefits for our people. Our sovereignty is measured not only by symbols, but by the progress we make as a nation.”