Country guide
Samoa
From New Zealand pounds to the 1967 tālā — Samoa’s coinage runs through Malietoa Tanumafili II’s first decimal issue, James Berry’s food-plant designs, and a seven-sided dollar.
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Coin entries
Coins of Samoa
Every coin entry in this wiki — one tap to the full page.
History & collecting
The story behind the coins, one tap away.
- Before 1967, New Zealand coins circulated in Western Samoa, independent since 1962.
- The tālā was introduced on 10 July 1967 (100 sene = 1 tālā): seven coins — 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 sene and $1 — sized to their NZ equivalents. The 1 and 2 sene were bronze, the rest cupro-nickel.
- Obverse: Malietoa Tanumafili II, head of state; reverse: the national emblem.
- 1974: a new series designed by James Berry, themed on locally grown food plants.
- 1984: a seven-sided aluminum-bronze $1 replaced the banknote. A 2000 FAO 21st-century commemorative 2 sene followed.
- 1967 first decimal (KM#1–KM#7): the foundation set of Samoan coinage.
- 1974 Berry series: coconut, cocoa, pineapple, taro, breadfruit, banana, and palm across the denominations.
- 1984 seven-sided $1: aluminum-bronze, issued to retire the note.
- The 1967 $1 (KM#7): one-year type, cupro-nickel, with its introduction date lettered on the edge.
- 1967 proof sets of the first decimal issue.
- The complete 1974 Berry food-plant set — seven denominations, seven food plants.
- For every value question, work from live sold listings on the linked entries, not from printed price lists.
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