Vanuatu is a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands that stretch 1,300 kilometers. The islands offer scuba diving at coral reefs, underwater caverns and wrecks such as the WWII-era troopship SS President Coolidge. Harborside Port Vila, the nation’s capital and economic center, is on the island of Efate. The city is home to the Vanuatu National Museum, which explores the nation’s Melanesian culture.

Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were a Spaniards. In the 1880s, France and the United Kingdom claimed parts of the archipelago, and in 1906, they agreed on a framework for jointly managing the archipelago. An independence movement arose in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was founded in 1980.

The vatu was introduced in 1981, one year after independence, to replace the New Hebrides franc at par. The vatu was issued as a single unit with no subdivision, with the 1 vatu coin being the smallest denomination issued. On 22 March 1982, notes were introduced by the Central bank of Vanuatu in denominations of 100, 500, and 1,000 vatu.

Today we are looking at a 100 vatu banknote issued in 1982. The obverse has the official Coat of Arms of Vanuatu. The Coat of arms of Vanuatu features a Melanesian warrior holding the spear standing before the mountain superimposed on the boar's tusk encircling two crossed namele fern fronds and the golden scroll on the bottom with the National Motto that reads: LONG GOD YUMI STANAP (In Bislama for, "IN GOD WE STAND"). The reverse features cattle among palm trees. This vibrant green note has a bearded man in a headdress as its watermark.

Image Courtesy: Internumis