Samoan tala

Samoan tala Samoa tālā (Samoan)
5 Tala 1985
ISO 4217 Code	WST
User(s)	Samoa
Inflation	3.3%
Source	The World Factbook, 2005
Subunit
1/100	sene
Symbol	WS$ (sometimes SAT, ST or T)
Coins	1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 sene, 1 tala
Banknotes	2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 tala
Central bank	Central Bank of Samoa
Website	www.cbs.gov.ws

The tala is the currency of Samoa. It is divided into 100 sene. The names are Samoan equivalents of the English dollar and cent. The tala was introduced in 1967. Until that time, Samoa had used the pound, with coins from New Zealand and its own banknotes. The tala replaced the pound at a rate of 2 tala = 1 pound, and was therefore equal to the New Zealand dollar. The tala remained equal to the New Zealand dollar until 1975. The symbol WS$ is usually used for the tala^[1], though SAT^[2], ST^[3] and T^[4] also appear to be in use as well. Sometimes figures are written with the dollar sign in front and "tala" afterwards—e.g. $100 tala^{[5] [6]}.

Coins

In 1967, coins were introduced for 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 sene. Except for the bronze 1 and 2 sene, these coins were struck in cupro-nickel. Aluminium-bronze 1 tala coins were introduced in 1984.

Banknotes

In 1967, the Bank of Western Samoa introduced notes for 1, 2 and 10 tala. 5 tala notes were added in 1980 when the Monetary Board of Western Samoa took over paper money issuance. In 1984, 1 tala notes were replaced by coins and 20 tala notes were introduced. In 1985, the Central Bank of Samoa issued its first notes for 2, 5, 10 and 20 tala, with 50 and 100 tala notes introduced in 1990. Polymer 2 tala notes were also introduced in 1990. New, paper notes for 5 to 100 tala were introduced in late 2005, making it unlikely that more polymer notes will be introduced in the near future.

See also

• Economy of Samoa

References

External links

• Don's World Coin Gallery - Western Samoa
• Ron Wise's World Paper Money - Western Samoa ^{Mirror site}
• Tables of Modern Monetary Systems by Kurt Schuler - Samoa ^{Mirror site}
• The Global History of Currencies - Samoa (Western)
• Global Financial Data currency histories table ( Microsoft Excel format)
• COLLECTOR'S CURRENCY
• Historic Samoan banknotes