Samoan tala

Tala
Country:	Samoa
Subdivision:	100 se (s)
ISO 4217 code :	WST
Abbreviation:	WS $
Exchange rate : (27 Aug 2020)	1  EUR  = 3.1051 WST 1 WST = 0.32205 EUR 1  CHF  = 2.8885 WST 1 WST = 0.3462 CHF

The tala is the currency of the state of Samoa (also called Western Samoa).

A tala is divided into 100 senes . There are coins of 5, 10, 20, 50 sene, 1 and 2 tala, banknotes of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 tala. Although the western part of the Samoa Islands was a German colony ( German Samoa ) from 1900 to 1914 , the tala is not named directly after the German thaler , but after the New Zealand dollar .

After the declaration of its (re-) independence in 1962, Samoa initially retained the New Zealand (= British) pound , the currency of the previous colonial power , with its own banknotes but New Zealand coins. When New Zealand introduced the decimal system in 1967 , also replacing the pound with the dollar , Samoa followed this step and introduced the tala, equal in value to the New Zealand dollar. It was not until 1975 that the tala got its own exchange rate against other international currencies, initially regulated by the state, and since 2001 freely convertible.