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100 Tala - Tanumafili II Kon-Tiki
| Issuer | Samoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1988 |
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| Composition | Gold (.900) |
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| Reverse description | A detailed depiction of the balsa-wood raft Kon-Tiki under sail occupies the right and lower portions of the field, shown navigating open Pacific waves with a figure visible on deck and the characteristic bamboo cabin and mast rigging rendered in fine relief. A stylised pre-Columbian tribal mask in shield form is centred at the top of the field, dividing the date 19 88 to either side. The bold legend KON-TIKI arcs prominently across the upper field, with the descriptive inscription ACROSS THE PACIFIC BY RAFT arranged in three lines to the left, and the historical voyage year 1947 positioned below. |
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| Reverse lettering | 19 88 KON-TIKI ACROSS THE PACIFIC BY RAFT 1947 |
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| Additional information |
The Kon-Tiki expedition of 1947 saw Thor Heyerdahl and five crew members drift 4,300 miles across the Pacific on a balsa raft to prove that pre-Columbian South Americans could have settled Polynesia. Samoa's decision to commemorate it four decades later fit neatly into a broader Pacific-issued collector series of the late 1980s, when small island nations were actively licensing gold proof programs through international mint contractors to generate foreign revenue.
Heyerdahl's theory has since largely fallen out of favor with anthropologists, who cite genetic and linguistic evidence pointing to Southeast Asian origins for Polynesian settlement.