WESTERN SAMOA

The Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa, is an island state in the pacific. Its capital city is Apia. The islands were part of, firstly the British empire and then the German empire up until the First world war, when it became a mandate of New Zealand. Previously in 1899 the eastern half of the islands became a territory of The USA and today is known as American Samoa, the western half became Western Samoa. In 1997 the government of Western Samoa changed the name to Samoa under their constitution.

Monetary units:

1 Pound = 20 Shillings = 240 pence up to 1967
1 Tala = 100 sene 1967 onwards

The note above is the 2 Tala note from 2003 (possibly) with Malietoa Tanumafili II , the Samoan head of state, on the front and a tribal gathering on the reverse. This note had me scratching my head for a couple of reasons - firstly the date and the note is not listed in my reference books and secondly, the note seems to be a mixture of polymer at both sides but paper in the middle - if anyone knowns more, please let me know. Also, although the country changed its name in 1997 it still has the words "legal tender in Western Samoa" on the front right - is that the western part of Samoa - i.e. not american Samoa or do people still know it as western Samoa?