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1 Pound
| Issuer | Government of Samoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is arranged with two oval vignettes at left — the upper showing a Samoan figure with companions in a landscape, the lower with a coastal tropical scene including palm trees — each framed within guilloche borders. The central text panel carries a promise-to-pay clause, date and place of issue (Apia), serial number appearing twice, and the large intaglio denomination ONE POUND. Corner numerals '1' appear within ornate cartouches, and a handwritten signature of the Administrator appears at lower right above 'GOVERNMENT OF SAMOA'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ONE POUND GOVERNMENT OF SAMOA BANK OF NEW ZEALAND CURRENCY NOTE INCORPORATED BY ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY THE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND IS NOT LIABLE HEREON WE PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ONE POUND APIA GOVERNMENT OF SAMOA ONE POUND |
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| Comments |
The Government of Samoa series of 1920 was issued under New Zealand administration, which had governed the territory as a League of Nations mandate since occupying it from Germany in 1914. New Zealand's administration printed these notes to replace the German colonial currency that had circulated under the Deutsche Handels- und Plantagen-Gesellschaft system — a practical necessity, but also a deliberate assertion of administrative control over the islands.
P#2 is genuinely rare. The entire issue had extremely limited distribution across a small island population, and surviving examples in any grade are seldom seen at auction.