Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
10 Tala - Tanumafili II Summer Olympics 1980
| Issuer | Samoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1980 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Tala (1967-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The national coat of arms of Western Samoa occupies the central field, depicting a shield charged with the Southern Cross constellation above a coconut palm tree, flanked on either side by olive branches and surmounted by a Latin cross. A scroll beneath the shield bears the national motto FAAVAE I LE ATUA SAMOA in raised relief. The legend SAMOA I SISIFO arcs along the upper periphery, while the denomination $10 appears in large characters at the base. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | SAMOA I SISIFO FAAVAE I LE ATUA SAMOA $10 |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Samoa's participation in the 1980 Moscow Olympics was complicated by the broader Western boycott organized in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Many nations withdrew entirely; Samoa competed under the Olympic flag rather than its own, a compromise position taken by several smaller states navigating political pressure from Washington. This coin was issued regardless — commemorative programs were rarely abandoned over diplomatic inconvenience, and the revenue mattered.
The .500 fineness places it squarely in the lower-silver commemorative tier common to Pacific island issuers of this period, produced primarily for collector export rather than domestic circulation.