1985 Tuvalu Dollar Coin - Does It Still Circulate?

Very nice!

I've just written an article on "Countries that use the Australian dollar" for my coin club's magazine.

The "Tuvalu dollar" is a nominal currency; it has coins but no banknotes. The Australian dollar is sole legal tender in Tuvalu.

Tuvalu introduced its own coinage in 1976, to circulate alongside Australian coins at par. They introduced a $1 coin at the same time, the nonagonal coin we see in the OP. They are larger and more cumbersome than the Australian $1 coin, which was not introduced in Australia until 1984. The locals prefer to use the more conveniently sized Australian $1 coins as a result.

Finding any Tuvaluan coins in change in Tuvalu is rare these days. They have not issued their own circulation coins since 1994, and although tourists are rare in Tuvalu, the few that have come have tended to souvenir most of the local supply of Tuvaluan coins.

So, the TLDR answer is "yes, they are rarely seen but will still be accepted as money".

A few pictures of my Tuvalu 1985 BU set: