100 Vatu

Vanuatu's coinage has been issued by the Reserve Bank since independence in 1980, when the New Hebrides condominium — jointly administered by Britain and France in one of colonial history's more awkward arrangements — dissolved into a single sovereign state. The vatu replaced the New Hebrides franc and the Australian dollar, both of which had circulated simultaneously across the islands.

The aluminium-zinc-bronze alloy adopted for this denomination is the same family of tri-metal compositions that gained favour among Pacific island nations in the 2000s for its corrosion resistance in high-humidity environments.