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500 Vatu
| Issuer | Reserve Bank of Vanuatu |
|---|---|
| Year | 1993-2006 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Vatu |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 500 VATU RESERVE BANK BLONG VANUATU (Translation: 500 Vatu Reserve Bank of Vanuatu) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Melanesian male head. |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Vanuatu's currency only came into existence in 1981, two years after independence, when the vatu replaced the joint New Hebrides franc that had circulated under the unusual Anglo-French Condominium — a colonial arrangement so administratively peculiar that the territory ran parallel British and French court systems, police forces, and currencies simultaneously. The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu was established specifically to issue a unified national currency free of that dual authority.
Three signature combinations appear across this series, tracking successive changes in central bank leadership over more than a decade of issue. The shift from a solid to a segmented security thread marks the boundary between the earlier and later printings — a useful diagnostic when the signatures themselves are difficult to read.