Catalog
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| Issuer | Samoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1979 |
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| Currency | Tala (1967-date) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Issued to mark the bicentennial of Cook's third Pacific voyage, which brought him through Samoan waters in the late 1770s — though Cook himself never landed on Samoa proper. The commemorative program Samoa ran through the late 1970s was partly a revenue exercise exploiting collector demand for Pacific-themed issues, a common strategy among newly independent island nations building foreign exchange through numismatic bureaus.
Tanumafili II, joint head of state at the time of issue, would eventually outlive his co-leader to become the world's last reigning monarch to have been born under colonial rule.