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!
25 Tala - Tanumafili II 'Kon-Tiki'
| Issuer | Samoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1986 |
| 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 Samoan national arms occupy the central field, depicting a quartered shield bearing the Southern Cross constellation in the lower half and a coconut palm above a rope motif in the upper half, all set against a globe, surmounted by a Latin cross, and flanked by two olive branches forming a wreath. A scroll below the shield bears the national motto FAAVAE I LE ATUA SAMOA in incuse lettering. The legend SAMOA I SISIFO curves along the upper periphery, while the denomination $25 appears in large numerals at the bottom of the field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| 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 |
The Kon-Tiki expedition of 1947 saw Thor Heyerdahl and five crew members cross approximately 6,900 kilometers of Pacific Ocean on a balsa-wood raft, departing Callao, Peru and making landfall in the Tuamotu Islands after 101 days. Heyerdahl's purpose was to demonstrate that pre-Columbian South Americans could have settled Polynesia — a theory that remains contested, and which subsequent genetic evidence has largely failed to support.
Samoa's interest in commemorating the voyage is geographic rather than genealogical. The issue falls within a broader run of large-format silver pieces authorized under Tanumafili II, several of which targeted the Pacific explorer theme popular with collectors in the mid-1980s.