The currency of Samoa is the Tālā, the name of which is a transliteration of the English words Dollar; it was introduced in 1967. On coinage sometimes the English word is inscribed, especially on commemorative and bullion coins not intended to circulate within the country.
Samoa has authorised some private mints to issue coins under its jurisdiction, which come in a variety of sizes - including in the popular gold ounce (1 oz gold) format, such as this one.
This specially shaped coin is the first-ever Haribo licensed coin, and celebrates 100 years of the Haribo Goldbears.
Haribo Goldbears are the original "gummy bear" sweets and are sold in a golden packet with a picture of Haribo Goldbear, who is mostly saying a message such as "the original goldbears".
Gum arabic was the original base ingredient used to produce the gummy bears, hence the name gum or gummy. Hans Riegel Sr., a confectioner from Bonn, started the Haribo company in 1920. In 1922, inspired by the trained bears seen at street festivities and markets in Europe through to the 19th century, he invented the Dancing Bear (Tanzbär), a small, affordable, fruit-flavoured gum candy treat for children and adults alike, which was much larger in form than its later successor, the Gold-Bear (Goldbär). The success of the Dancing Bear's successor would later become Haribo's world-famous Gold-Bears candy product in 1967. |