N. Guinea Coins

To Be Specially Minted

THE Pacific Islands territories are be coming currency conscious. Fiji has just established its own coinage, and now New Guinea is following suit.

New Guinea native labourers will shortly be paid in special New Guinea coinage, which will be perforated, so that natives can string the coins together and carry them as beads on a necklace.

The new tokens, which will be the first perforated coins issued by the Royal Mint in Melbourne, will comprise a shilling in Australian silver, sixpenny and three penny pieces in cupro-nickel, and bronze pennies. Designs embodying coconut palms and similar symbols will be adopted for the coins. It is expected that all the coins will be in circulation before the end of the year.

It is officially stated that Australian coinage, which has been in circulation since Australia assumed control of New Guinea, has only a limited circulation among the natives, and that the new coins are being minted with the object of edu cating the natives in the use of money.

When the new coins are available they will be the only ones circulated in the Territory. A date will be fixed after which a bank shall not, without the writ ten consent of the Administrator, know ingly tender or pay in the Territory to any person British or Australian coins other than gold.

It is difficult to understand why New Guinea should have decided to exclude Australian coins, while (presumably) re taining Australian notes. The difficulty about native payments could have been overcome quite simply by issuing a special perforated coin, bearing a fixed relation ship to the Australian coins.

However, the matter no doubt has been well argued out in Rabaul, and we can only await with interest the results of the experiment.

Dr. G. H. Vernon, M.C., a well-known planter of Daru, Western Papua, returned to Thursday Island at the end of June, from an extended tour of Japan and For mosa. After a brief sojourn visiting old friends on T.I., where he was for many years Government Medical Officer, Dr.

Vernon crossed over to Daru bv launch early in July.

Three decor ated youths of Papua, from a photograph in the “Methodist Mission Re view" by Mr.

A. Benson.