Catalog
10 Tala - Tanumafili II Roosevelt, Silver Proof Issue
| Issuer | Samoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1981 |
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| Value | 10 Tala |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A three-quarter facing portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt seated in his wheelchair occupies the central field, rendered in high relief in the proof style. The date 1981 and the emblem of the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP) appear below the portrait. The legend PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT is inscribed along the upper arc of the coin, with the abbreviation IYDP and the year flanking the lower field. |
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| Additional information |
Malietoa Tanumafili II held the position of O le Ao o le Malo — Head of State of Samoa — from independence in 1962 until his death in 2007, making him one of the longest-serving heads of state in the world at the time. This issue commemorates Franklin Roosevelt, part of a broader wave of Pacific island commemorative programs in the late 1970s and early 1980s that were frankly designed as much for the collector market as for any domestic monetary purpose.
The Franklin Mint and similar contract minters actively solicited small-nation governments during this period, producing proofs with limited domestic circulation relevance. Samoa issued several such pieces under Tanumafili II across these years.