Crown of Tonga time, Tonga also adopted a national flag, a coat-of-arms and a national anthem. The first king to be crowned with the historic crown was King George Tupou II, the great-grandson and successor Tupou. Tupou II was crowned on 17 March 1893. His daughter and successor Queen Sālote Tupou III was crowned on 11 October 1918. Queen Sālote was succeeded by her eldest son, who became King Tāufa'āhau Tupou IV. He was crowned on his 49th birthday, 4 July 1967. King Tāufa'āhau was succeed by his eldest son, who became King George Tupou V. He was crowned on 1 August 2008.
Tongan paʻanga same approximate size as earlier dated coins. In 2011, commercial demand for 20 and 50 seniti prompted these denominations to be issued featuring the effigy of Tupou IV posthumous, who had died in 2006. A new obverse design for George Tupou V had not yet been made or selected at this time, possibly due to increased health concerns regarding the latter monarch, who died in March 2012. For a brief period, some of the higher denomination coinage from the 1967-1968 series was "countermarked" with commemoration stamps that were added to the coin after being struck. The most distinct of these