Samoa
West Pacific islands administered jointly during the final decade of the 19th century by Great Britain, Germany and the USA. Great Britain occupied all of the western islands from 1914 to 1920 when they came under a New Zealand mandate, and later under a United Nations trusteeship. In 1962 the islanders opted for independence, but continued with sterling until 1967 when a decimal currency (100 sene = 1 tale) came into circulation. The last sterling stamps; 8d and 1s 0d values, commemorated Samoa’s Parliament House in its centenary year (figure 1).
Earlier predecimals continue to attract collector interest today, especially those from the embryonic years of Samoan postal, and printed in Sydney, the stamps, which continued in use into the 1880s, sparked much collector interest around the world. Regrettably they were later remaindered, reprinted and forged on a large scale. Buyers beware!
