I have a relatively large amount of Samoan Tala left from a journey in 2007. However, as they got new bills since then no bank in New Zealand wants to exchange it. I tried ASB, travelex and several exchange offices. I also wrote to the Samoan National Bank but didn't get an answer yet. Does anyone of you have an idea how I could exchange the money without going to Samoa? I am currently in New Zealand and my Plan B is to try and find someone who is going to Samoa and willing to buy old currency from a stranger, but I'd rather find an easier way.
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This question appears to be off-topic because it is about money exchange, try money.se– Nean Der ThalCommented Dec 10, 2014 at 3:57
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7@MeNoTalk we have several others like that. It's a problem travellers face. I even posted one on exchanging Kyrgyzstan currency in London– Mark MayoCommented Dec 10, 2014 at 4:01
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@WCamperfan are these 2007 notes even legal currency any more? That may explain why banks are refusing, and in that case what you have is a collector's item, rather than 'currency', since currency is able to be exchanged.– Mark MayoCommented Dec 10, 2014 at 4:12
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@mark true, but in this case it is totally not related to travel imo.– Nean Der ThalCommented Dec 10, 2014 at 4:22
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1 Answer
The Samoan currency changed to its present design in 2008 and while it should still be technically legal tender since they didn't change the valuation or currency form, you will not be able to exchange it outside Samoa. Similar headaches occur with old style US currency, which can be near impossible to exchange anymore outside the USA.