Coins you can almost eat: James Berry’s 1974 Samoan redesign — coconut, cocoa, pineapple, taro, breadfruit, banana, and palm across the denominations.
History
- In 1974 Samoa issued a new series designed by James Berry, themed entirely on locally grown food plants.
- The lineup: 1 sene coconut, 2 sene cocoa pods, 5 sene pineapple, 10 sene taro, 20 sene breadfruit, 50 sene banana tree, $1 palm tree.
- The 50 sene’s edge changed from alternating plain/reeded to reeded only.
Key dates & varieties
- 1974 first year of the Berry designs across all seven denominations.
Specifications
- Seven denominations from 1 sene to $1; the food-plant reverses are the unifying feature.
Collector notes
- Assemble the full seven-coin food set — the $1 palm is the stopper.
- Berry also designed the famous New Zealand decimal reverses, which is why the style feels familiar.