## The Bug Bill

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [The Bug Bill](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2018/03/currency)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2018/03/currency/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2018/03/currency/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2018/03/currency/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: ESZTER BALAZS
- Published: March 1, 2018

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### Overview
- Fiji redesigned its banknotes and coins in 2012 to highlight endemic plants and animals and to promote their preservation, protection, and promotion.
- The redesign marked a major symbolic change: after 78 years, the currency of the Commonwealth member country ceased to display images of the British royal family.

### Species and design choices featured on currency
- $100 banknote: shiny-backed, yellowish tree bugs (nanai), a native of Viti Levu; nanai make an appearance in Fiji only once every eight years.
- $5 banknote: kulawai (red-throated lorikeet), the smallest member of the parrot family in Fiji; recorded on only four of the country’s 332 islands; last seen in 1993 and suspected to be likely extinct.
- $10 banknote: beli (Lever’s goby), a freshwater fish found in fast-running streams in the highlands of Fiji.
- $20 banknote: kacau ni Gau (Fiji petrel) that nests on a single island, Gau; experts believe no more than 50 pairs survive today.
- Coins: series featuring a rabbitfish, a flying fox, a parrot, a humphead wrasse, an iguana, and a peregrine falcon.
- Plant: tagimoucia, Fiji’s best-known flower, which flourishes only on a single island and “refuses to grow” elsewhere in Fiji according to Susan Kumar.

### Design process and contributors
- The choice of flora and fauna was made by a team of experts including biologists, historians of the National Museum of Fiji, and members from a cross section of the community, under the guidance of the former governor of the Reserve Bank, Barry Whiteside.
- Susan Kumar, chief manager of the Currency and Corporate Services Group at the Reserve Bank of Fiji, worked on the new banknote series from conception to its launch in 2012.
- Some designs were drawn from preserved specimens by Luis Morris, a former senior banknote designer at De La Rue in the United Kingdom.

### Public reception and recognition
- The public response was positive: the banknotes are described as “colorful and vibrant,” and relatable as representations of the country’s natural history.
- The Fijian flora and fauna banknote collection won the Regional Banknote of the Year Award in 2013 for visual artistry, technical sophistication, and accurate reflection of the country’s cultural heritage.

*Source: The Bug Bill, F&D Magazine, March 2018.*

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## Content in this bundle

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2018/03/currency_