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2 Tālā

Issuer Monetary Board of Western Samoa
Year 1980
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Printer Thomas De La Rue & Company, London, United Kingdom
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Reverse description Central vignette of a traditional thatched Samoan fale set among tall palm trees on a coastal shore, with a distant island visible across the water. To the right, the national flag of Western Samoa on a flagpole is rendered in colour, alongside the Western Samoan coat of arms at lower centre, encircled by a wreath and bearing the motto FA AVE I LE ATUA SAMOA. Denomination roundels marked $2 appear at upper left and upper right within fine guilloche lacework, with the note's geometric border pattern in multicolour.
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Protection type Watermark
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Comments

Western Samoa's adoption of the tālā in 1967 replaced the pound at a rate of two tālā to one pound, but the first generation of notes under the Monetary Board were plain affairs, heavily reliant on De La Rue's standard colonial-era house style. By the 1980 issue, the board had enough institutional confidence to commission a cleaner, more regionally distinct series — though De La Rue retained the contract, as they had for virtually every Pacific island issuer of the period.

The watermark security is the sole anti-counterfeiting measure, which was already considered minimal by 1980 standards. Western Samoa's tiny circulation economy made sophisticated security a low priority.

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