The Coins And Banknotes Of Fiji!

50 cents Part 3 the one offs


2012 Varivoce, 2013 Delana, 2017 Rugby 7s and Ben Ryan

2013 and 2017 saw two circulating 50 cent coins that showed Olympians who had won Gold medals for Fiji, being a small Pcific Island nation, to win a Olympic Gold medal was a huge achievement and both coins reflect the country's pride.




500k coins were issued for Iliesa Delana a Paralympian High Jumper who won Gold at the London 2012 Paralympics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliesa_Delana

In addition to the coin, Delana is now the minister for Sport and Youth affairs in the Fijian government. Initially he was given a brand new house amongst other things and Voreqe Bainamarama used his success as an example for all Fijians to aspire to (No doubt increasing his new found Politicial respectability some as well).

Obverse shows Delana making his gold medal winning 1.74m high jump and the other shows the Fijian coat of arms, the first time on a coin since the 1980 50 cent commemorative. Above sits the Camakau that usually appears on 50 cent pieces.




The second coin was issued in 2017 and 1 million were minted showing Ben Ryan the coach of the Fijian 7's rugby team on One side and the team holding the trophy aloft on the other. Fiji has a great Rugby team by Pacific and even Global standards (It can wallop Tonga and even Manu Samoa, but the All Blacks are a challenge). However the 7 a side rugby is where Fiji shine and they denied the All Blacks and Wallabies the Gold at Rio in 2016.

Like with Delana, the Fijians were very proud and this coin came out. In addition a $7 banknote also came out (I have one too) and these are all collectible.

The coat of arms is also tacked in and as you will see later is prominent on all Fijian Banknotes.

The rim is thicker on these coins and the varivoce than the 2009/10 coins.

The craft is now named Camakau as well, although known as Taku by some tribes.

That concludes the 50 cents and we move on to the $1 coin!

From what I read from Numista and Online coin club, it seems all the large size coins were demonitised in 2008/2009.

The 1c and 2c coins were demonitised on Oct 13 2008 and the rest in April 2009. The new 5c - $1 had been released on Feb 8 2009.

I do not know about any earlier demonitisations in say 1990 when Cupronickel gave way to steel coins.

I think too demonitisation only means they are not fully accepted in everyday usage, you could probably still take old coins to the Reserve Bank Headquarters in Suva and get new coins in their place.

Here in New Zealand you can with pre 2006 coins and even predecimal ones - although you would be a fool to cash in a 1944 shilling for 10 cents and an Uncirculated $50 note from 1983 for a new one!

I am missing only 8 coins from the 50 cents. Hopefully two of those holes will filled in the next week or so.

Here's my Delana and Rugby 7s.





PrinceTane, I think you overlooked the 1979 "Sugar for the World" 50 cent coin.

Sorry PrinceTane, not meaning to be critical. I'm loving these threads you are doing. I totally missed the beginning of the 50c pieces, because they are on the previous page. I also had a tumble at work today, so I've been in hospital for a few hours. Keep up the great work buddy.

Steve :)

Sorry to hear that Steve, I was mainly digging at some other people as well. I guess I see a big edifice of achievement that is overlooked for trivial errors and misinterpretations.

I also excused myself by saying my 50 cent collection is far from complete and already you guys have superbly shown me all the missing coins sans the 1980 Prince Charles one which is rare and the 1978 coin. The holes in my 50c and as you will see dollar denominations will also be holes in my knowledge.

Good coins and good shots, sorry to hear about your tumble, your Fijian collection is top notch. I am having a hard time at the moment and just find people pointing out trivial things like a dollar coin minted in 2017 and me misidentifying a 1979 Fijian coin is extremely trivial and makes light of all the work I do.

After the Fijian notes, I will be taking a bit of a break.

After my latest Diva performance, lets move on

$1 Dollar coins 1995 - now


$1 coin showing the obverse design which has remained

The $1 coin was issued first in 1995, some 26 years after the first decimal coins and again it was issued because of inflation. Here I mention circulation dollars from 1995, not the earlier large coins (Although I suggested 1969 coins may have circulated).


1980s $1 and $2 notes, the $1 was probably was removed from circulation early, the $2 was more typical of what these notes ended up looking like!

The $1 was smaller but different from the others, minted out of Aluminium brass, but being a thick coin and having a milled edge, which was different to the other coins being all plain edges. These coins were minted at The Royal Mint.


The 1990s dollar coins, 1995 and 1996 to 1999. I don't have the 2000 coin.

The coin was only 23mm in size yet weighed 8 grams and was very distinctive from the lower value coins.

A very generous 5 million coins were issued in 1995 and these are very common in many lots I buy in. Luckily they minted more from 1996 to 2000. 1 million more coins were added each year so that by 2000, some 10 million dollar coins had been released for Fiji.

There were no more coins released until 2009, a reduced weight $1 coin came out in 2009 and I have a stained 2010 (See below). Again mintages of post 2000 dollar coins are not known, but Redlock has deduced they can't be that high.

It seems looking at Numista that 2010 dated dollars are more common than 2009 dated ones.



The 2012 Vokai dollar design

The design now included the Vokai - Fijian banded Iguana (I honestly thought Iguanas were south American until now) and again this animal is rare. The Saqamoli design was retained.

There are many other differences between these and the first dollars. The size was the same at 23mm, but these coins were much thinner and weighed just 5.05grams each. They were also minted out of brass plated steel in Canada. The design also shows a recessed octagonal inner rim. I only have 1 date of this coin for Royal and non Royal types.

- Good quality and environmentally toned $1 coins.

I have shown the above image as it seems this metal combination is not good for Fiji, besides this toned dollar I have several of the $2 coins from 2012 in the same metal that has the bad environmental toning, the coins are stained and blackened and look ugly. Maybe the people in frigid Canada need to return to aluminium bronze for these coins - after it all, it's a very cheap metal.

$1 coins were minted in 2012, 2013 and now 2017. I only have 2012 and Redlock has shown the 2017.

Next the $2 coins

Both still required by me too. :(

I also need the 1999 and 2000, so you have one that I don't :) .
(update, I just bought the 1999 off ebay for $3 including postage,)
I don't have the 1969 or 1976 either.

I do have the 2017 though.



Steve :)

I just saw this reply too late. Bought a 1999 off ebay for $3 delivered.

I do want the 1999 5c please, it's the NZ one I don't need. Cheers.

I have a 2012 $2, but I need the 2013, but thank you for the offer.

Glad to see you found a 2010 $1.

Steve :)