2 Sene - Tanumafili II

Malietoa Tanumafili II held the position of O le Ao o le Malo — head of state — from Samoan independence in 1962 until his death in 2007, making him one of the longest-serving heads of state in the world during that period. His image anchored Samoan coinage through a span that included the country's 1975 switch from the Tālā decimal system's early years into full economic integration with Pacific regional institutions. The bronze composition was quietly phased out as rising metal costs made small-denomination bronze coins economically unviable across much of the Pacific during the 1990s.