1 Tala - Tanumafili II Commonwealth Games

Issued to mark the 1978 Commonwealth Games held in Edmonton, Canada — the first Games at which Samoa competed under its own flag rather than as part of a combined Pacific territories team. The timing of this commemorative series coincided with Samoa still operating under the joint Head of State arrangement that followed independence, with Tanumafili II serving alongside Tupua Tamasese Lealofi IV until the latter's death in 1963 left Tanumafili as sole Head of State.

KM#30 is one of several denominations struck for the occasion, with the copper-nickel circulation strikes vastly outnumbering any proof versions produced for collector sets.