George Tupou V the president of Hungary. During his time as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he had been made an officer of France's Legion of Honour. "Matangi Tonga" reported that George Tupou V died from leukaemia at 15:15 HKT on 18 March 2012 at Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, though governing institutions in Tonga did not immediately confirm it. His brother and heir presumptive Tupouto'a Lavaka was at the hospital when he died. A statement was due following a cabinet meeting the day after his death. Radio Australia reported that Tonga's largest religious organisation, the Free Wesleyan Church, said
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