coins and more: 137) Currency & Coinage of Samoa: Tala (meaning “dollar”) and Sene (meaning “cent”):

137) Currency & Coinage of Samoa: Tala (meaning “dollar”) and Sene (meaning “cent”):

The Independent State of Samoa (or Malo Sa’oloto Tuto’atasi o Samoa” in Samoan) lies in the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and Savai’i, making it one of the biggest islands in Polynesia. The capital city is Apia situated on the island of Upolu.

In 1772, the islands of Samoa were discovered by Jacob Roggeveen, a Dutch explorer. He was followed by French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville who named the islands the “Navigator Islands” because of the Samoan’s seafaring skills. Soon after their discovery, Germany, Britain and the USA wanted to have a foothold on these islands.

The Tri-partite Convention of 1899 partitioned the Samoan Islands into two parts – the Eastern island group becoming a territory of the USA and came to be called “American Samoa”. The Western island group which was much larger in area became known as “German Samoa”, after Britain exchanged their claim on these islands for termination of Germany’s rights in Tonga, some areas in the Solomon Islands and West Africa. Thus, although the group of Samoan islands was ruled by an indigenous monarchy, Germany and the USA bulldozed the local ruler and partitioned the islands between themselves. Eastern Samoa still remains under US rule.

In 1914, at the commencement of World War I, German or Western Samoa was captured by New Zealand and New Zealand was granted a mandate under the League of Nations to rule this territory.

From 1914 to 1967, the pound was the currency of Western Samoa. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each further sub-divided into 12 pence. Following the New Zealand occupation of German Samoa (or Western Samoa), the pound sterling replaced the German Mark as the currency of the territory. The circulating coinage originally was the United Kingdom coinage.

In 1915, the first provisional Banknotes issued by the New Zealand Occupying Military Force, which were in the nature of overprinted one pound and five pound Banknotes of the Bank of New Zealand were circulated.

In 1920, overprinted ten shillings Banknotes of the Bank of New Zealand were circulated.

In 1922, Treasury Notes in the denominations of 10 shillings, 1 and 5 pounds, issued “by the authority of New Zealand Government” were circulated. These Treasury Notes continued to be issued until 1961, when the bank of Western Samoa took over the control & supervision of paper money.

From 1934, the circulating coinage of Western Samoa became predominantly the New Zealand coinage.

In 1962, Western Samoa which remained under this mandate hithertobefore was granted independence.

In the same year, distinctive coins were introduced based on the “Tala” (a local variation of the word “dollar”) subdivided into 100 “Sene” (a local variation of the word “cent”). The obverse bore the profile of Malietoa Tanumafili II from the line of the erstwhile Samoan Kings. The reverses bore designs of various fruits found in Samoa.

Since 1969, Western Samoa has issued several commemorative coins, including the Queen’s silver jubilee, Commonwealth & Olympic Games and local legends such as Robert Louis Stevenson (popular as “Tusitala” or “the teller of tales”) and the German Governor Dr. Wilhelm Solff, as well as, a 2 cent coin commemorating the 21^st century with an FAO theme, among others.

Central Bank of Samoa:

The Central Bank of Samoa (or “Faletupe Tutotonu O Samoa”, in Samoan (meaning “Central Bank” or “Central Money House” of Samoa), is situated in Apia, the capital city of Samoa.

The Central Bank issues the Samoan currency, the “Samoan Tala”.

Before 1962, The Bank of New Zealand owned by the New Zealand Government issued Currency denominated in British Pounds, shillings and pence for circulation in Samoa.

After Samoa gained independence in 1962 from New Zealand, the currency was initially issued by the Bank of Western Samoa. Like the Bank of New Zealand, this was a commercial bank, partially owned by the Samoan Government and it carried out currency operations and foreign exchange policy on behalf of the Samoan Government.

In 1967, the Tala (meaning “dollar”) was introduced with each Tala being sub-divided into 100 Sene (meaning “cents”). Until this time, Samoa was using the pound, with coins coming from New Zealand and Samoa supervising its own Banknotes. Also, in the same year, New Zealand decimalized its currency. At this point, the Tala replaced the pound at an exchange rate of 2 Tala to 1 pound and was equal to the New Zealand dollar until 1975.

In 1974, the Government of Samoa transferred the supervision, circulation and issue of currency to a newly established Monetary Authority of Western Samoa through the Monetary Board of Western Samoa Act.

In 1984, The Central Bank of Samoa was established through the Central Bank of Samoa Act for the purpose of administering monetary policy functions and other powers exercised by the Monetary Authority of Samoa.

In 1996, the Financial Institutions Act added the licensing and supervision of financial institutions to the Central Bank’s role.

Till 1997, the symbol designated for the Tala was “WS$”, when the country’s previous name “Western Samoa” was changed to “Samoa”. Thus, after 1997, the symbols “SAT” (Samoan Tala), “ST” (Samoan Tala) and “T” (Tala) were used as well.

In 2000, The Central Bank’s role was expanded to include Money Laundering Prevention responsibilities.

The Central Bank’s key obligation is to meet the currency requirements of the public and it ensures that stocks of all Banknotes & coinage denominations are in adequate supply and of high quality to meet the transactional requirements of the users. No other person or entity is allowed to print or issue currency. Also, it is an offence to deface any Banknotes by writing, stamping or erasure that would change the features thereof. Defacing of Banknotes attracts a penalty/fine not exceeding $10.

The Central Bank of Samoa constantly develops/introduces new security features that are difficult to copy, but easy to use and promotes awareness among users to detect counterfeit currency, if any. Some of the security features used on currency notes are – Watermark portrait, Anti-folding technology, electrotype text and windowed Security Thread.

Counterfeiting coins is liable for imprisonment for upto 7 years and putting a counterfeit coin in circulation is punishable by a prison term of upto six months.

Banknotes of the Samoan “Tala” (dollar):

In 1967, Tala Banknotes were first issued, replacing the New Zealand pound as the official currency. These Banknotes were in the denomination of 1, 5 and 10 Tala and were issued by the Bank of Western Samoa.

In 1980, a 5 Tala denomination Banknote was added to the circulating currency.

From 1985, the newly constituted Central Bank of Samoa issued currency with the new issuer’s name in both Samoan & English. The 1 Tala Banknote was discontinued.

In 1990, new denominations of Banknotes of 50 and 100 Tala were issued.

In September 1991, a 2 Tala Banknote was issued to commemorate the golden jubilee of Malietoa Tanumafili II as Head of State. This was the first polymer Banknote issued by Samoa. These Banknotes were replaced by a $2 Tala coin issued under the 2011 new Series of Coins.

Series 2008 (present series):

In 2008, a new Series of Banknotes printed by De La Rue, the premier Security & currency Printing Organisation in the World, was introduced with brighter colours, new security features and modern designs. The denominations of 50 & 100 Tala Banknotes have De La Rue’s Optiks security thread which has a see-through window.

On the Front & Back of all these Banknotes is mentioned the issuers name “FALETUPE TUTOTONU O SAMOA” (in Samoan) and “Central Bank of Samoa” in English. On the Front is also mentioned “TUPE FA’ATAGAINA-MALO O SAMOA” (in Samoan), and “Legal Tender in Samoa” (in English).

The Front of the Five Tala ($ 5) Banknote features Samoa’s beautiful well-known sandy beaches, symbolic of the increasing importance of Samoa’s limited pristine beach resources leading to development of Samoa’s tourist industry – its main economic driver.

This Banknote is red and pink in colour and is made of polymer plastic. The size of this Banknote is 139 mm x 71 mm. It was first issued on 01.08.2008.

The Back of the Five Tala ($ 5) Banknote portrays the Villa Vailima, former residence of world renowned Scottish author, Robert Louis Stevenson in Mount Vaea, Samoa. He was known as “Tusitala”, (the “Teller of Tales”) to the people of Samoa.

The denomination of the Banknote is also mentioned in Samoan as “Lima Tala” (meaning “five Tala”) on both faces.

The Front of the Ten Tala ($ 10) Banknote shows, Samoa’s Rugby Sevens team’s triumphant victory by being crowned champions at the IRB Hong Kong Sevens in 2007.

This Banknote is light blue, green and multi-coloured in colour and is made of polymer plastic. The size of this Banknote is 139 mm x 71 mm. It was first issued on 01.08.2008.

The Back of the Ten Tala ($ 10) Banknote shows Samoan children on their way to school. They represent the future of Samoa.

The theme of this Banknote is Sports & Education in Independent Samoa.

The denomination of the Banknote is also mentioned in Samoan as “Sefulu Tala” (meaning “Ten Tala”) on both faces.

The Front of the Twenty Tala ($ 20) Banknote features a beautiful cascading waterfall, the 50 metres high Sopa’aga Waterfall, situated on La Lafa Pass Road, Upolu Island.

This Banknote is yellow, orange and multi-coloured in colour and is made of polymer plastic. The size of this Banknote is 139 mm x 71 mm. It was first issued on 01.08.2008.

The Back of the Twenty Tala ($ 20) Banknote shows Samoa’s National Bird, the “Manumea” (or Samoan pigeon – Didunculus strigirostris) & Samoa’s National flower, the “Teuila”.

The theme of this Banknote is diversity and beauty of Samoa’s natural environment and protecting them for future generations.

The denomination of the Banknote is also mentioned in Samoan as “Luasefulu Tala” (meaning “Twenty Tala”) on both faces.

The Front of the Fifty Tala ($ 50) Banknote features the Government complex at Matagialalua, in Apia, which is a symbol of the maturity of Samoa’s public administration and governance system.

Also mentioned on this Banknote is “50^th Anniversary of Independence”. To the right of the Government complex depiction can be seen De La Rue’s Optiks security thread which has a see-through window in the form of a transparent shield.

This Banknote is purple and multi-coloured in colour and is made of polymer plastic. The size of this Banknote is 139 mm x 71 mm. It was first issued on 01.08.2008.

The Back of the Fifty Tala ($ 50) Banknote shows the Central Bank of Samoa building in Apia.

The denomination of the Banknote is also mentioned in Samoan as “Lima Sefulu Tala” (meaning “Fifty Tala”) on both faces.

The Front of the Hundred Tala ($ 100) Banknote commemorates the life of late Malietoa Tanumafili II, the Head of State of Samoa from 1962-2007, whose kindness, humility and respect for Samoan customs and traditions were immense. He was a symbolic icon of Samoa’s social stability. On one side of the portrait one can see Malietoa Tanumafili II’s signature.

To his right can be seen De La Rue’s Optiks security thread which has a see-through window in the form of a transparent shield.

This Banknote is emerald green, yellow and multi-coloured in colour and is made of polymer plastic. The size of this Banknote is 139 mm x 71 mm. It was first issued on 01.08.2008.

The Back of the Hundred Tala ($ 100) Banknote depicts the historical Mulivai Catholic Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in the country.

The denomination of the Banknote is also mentioned in Samoan as “Selau Tala” (meaning “One Hundred Tala”) on both faces.

Coinage of Samoa:

Before 1967, New Zealand coins were in circulation in Western Samoa, circulating alongside locally printed Banknotes.

In 1967, four years after Independence, a new coin Series was circulated, replacing the New Zealand pound as the official currency. This Series included coins in the denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 Sene & $1 Tala. These coins had the same size as the coins of New Zealand. The 1 & 2 Sene coins were minted in bronze while the higher denominations were struck in cupro-nickel.

On the obverse, all these coins showed the portrait of the Head of state Malietoa Tanumafili and on the reverse, it featured the National Emblem of Samoa.

In 1974, a second coin Series (known as the 1974-2011 Series) was issued.

The theme of these coins was locally grown food plants, which were as under on the reverse:

One Sene coins depicted a coconut.

Two Sene coins depicted Cocoa pods.

Five Sene coins depicted a Pineapple.

Ten Sene coins depicted the Taro plant.

20 Sene coins depicted the Breadfruit.

50 Sene coins depicted a banana tree. (The edge was changed to alternating plain & reeded, to only reeded).

$1 Tala (1974) coins depicted a Palm tree.

Obverse of a redesigned seven-sided $1 Tala coin issued in 2002 showing the portrait of MalietoaTanumafili facing left.

Reverse of the above $1 coin showing the National Coat of Arms/Crest of Samoa.

$1 Tala (1984) coins depicted the National crest. (this was a seven-sided coin minted in Aluminium Bronze which replaced the one Tala Banknote).

The common Obverse in the remaining coin denominations also issued in 2002 showing the portrait of MalietoaTanumafili facing left.

Reverse of the 50 Sene coin depicted a banana tree.

Reverse of the 20 Sene coin depicted the Breadfruit.

Reverse of the 10 Sene coin depicted the Taro plant.

Reverse of the 5 Sene coin depicted a pineapple.

In 2011, a third coin Series (known as the 2011 Series) was circulated.

This Series only included 10, 20 and 50 Sene and 1 & 2 Tala coins. These coins were issued in reduced sizes and new shapes so as to reduce minting costs. The minting cost of the smaller denomination coins viz., 1, 2 and 5 Sene had become prohibitive and these coins were withdrawn from circulation because of very little usage.

This Series includes a new scalloped edge $2 Tala coin struck in bronze plated steel to replace the $2 Tala Banknotes.

The $ 1 Tala coin is also struck in bronze plated steel is reduced in size, but retains its seven-sided shape.

The smaller 5, 10, 20 and 50 Sene coins are struck in nickel plated steel.

On the obverse, this six coin Series depicts the portrait of Tui-Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, the Head of State. The theme on the reverse of these coins represent the local history and culture of Samoa and feature Samoa’s most treasured symbols: