Vanuatu - 500 Vatus - P- New - Foreign Paper Money

Polymer. The vatu is the currency of Vanuatu. The vatu has no subdivisions. The term vatu, used in all three official languages of Vanuatu, was borrowed from the word for "stone" in some indigenous languages (such as Raga vatu). Ultimately, it descends from Proto-Oceanic *patu, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian and Proto-Austronesian *batu of the same meaning.

The vatu was introduced in 1981, one year after independence, to replace the New Hebrides franc at par. The vatu was issued as a single unit with no subdivision, with the 1 vatu coin being the smallest denomination issued, in a similar vein to the (post-1953) Japanese yen and the Tajikistani rouble (although that had an official if theoretical, subdivision). The ISO 4217 currency code for the Vanuatu vatu is VUV. Its nationally recognized symbol Vt is the most often used in written format. The vatu's introduction also saw the end of the official circulation of the Australian dollar in Vanuatu. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatu_vatu