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50 Tala - Tanumafili II Kon-Tiki
| Issuer | Samoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1988 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Tala (1967-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Palladium was still a genuinely unusual monetary metal in 1988 — Tonga had issued the first modern palladium coins only in 1967, and few Pacific nations had followed. Samoa's decision to strike this piece in .999 palladium aligned with a brief window of collector-market enthusiasm for the metal before prices became too volatile for regular commemorative programs.
The Kon-Tiki connection references Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 raft voyage across the Pacific, which departed from Callao, Peru. Heyerdahl used the expedition to argue a South American origin for Polynesian settlement — a theory that modern genetic evidence has largely, though not entirely, discredited.