World coins chat: Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands are an island nation in the Western Pacific east of New Guinea and north west of Vanuatu. It has a population of half a million, most of which are Melanesians. Solomon Islanders are related to the people of Vanuatu and some of the tribes in Papua New Guinea.

Inhabited for thousands of years, the Solomon Islands were discovered and named by Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira in 1568. Notorious for cannibalism and headhunting and lack of valuable resources, Europeans ignored the islands for centuries. The Solomon Islands were claimed as part of German New Guinea, but no German ever settled there. Instead, blackbirders from Fiji and Queensland were abducting Solomon Islanders for slave labour on their sugar plantations, leading to bloody reprisals by local warriors. Condemnation of this practice caused the British to declare a protectorate in 1893.

The Solomon Islands were the focus of a long battle between the Japanese Empire and the Allies during WW2. The young John F. Kennedy was shipwrecked near the islands in 1942 and was saved by 2 locals who recommended him to hide a rescue letter in a coconut in a dugout canoe. He and his crew were saved and he wished to thank the two Solomon Islanders for saving his life by inviting them to his inaugural ceremony in 1961, but word has it the British authorities refused these men to leave the islands because they were not suitably dressed. JFK kept the coconut on his desk.

The Solomon Islands became an independent republic within the British Commonwealth in 1978.

Currency
The Solomon Islands used British and Australian Pounds, which were equal in value until the end of the peg in 1930. Local Solomon Islands Pounds banknotes were introduced in 1916. Eventually it was decided to make the Australian Pound the official currency.

During WW2 the Japanese occupiers introduced the Oceanian Pound, but the Australian Pound returned after liberation. In 1966 Australia decimalised the Pound for 2 Dollars. A year before independence, the Solomon Islands introduced its own Dollar at par with the Australian one.

Due to economic stagnation in internal unrest the value of the Solomon Islands Dollar has dropped over time from $1.10 to 13 US Cents.

Coins
The first coins from the Solomon Islands resembled the Australian ones that circulated before. After a few Elizabeth II portrait updates an updated series was introduced in 2012.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/iles_salomon-1.html

I've been enjoying reading all of these, on this pass through my inventory.
I'd never heard of "blackbirding" I don't think, nor the JFK story.

So much better than the short blurb embedded in the Numista catalog for each country, eg:

"Countries and territories › Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands are an island nation in the Western Pacific east of New Guinea and north west of Vanuatu. It has a population of half a million, most of which are Melanesians."

It would be nice if these threads could be embedded somehow, via a link from the shorter blurb.

"Blurb" can be always enhanced upon request. And yes, we should make Numisdocs out of these marvels and link them from country descriptions.

I love Solomon island mostly because it’s apart of the common wealth and they put the queen on there coins so I’m a fan.