5 Centesimos Piefort

Piefort coinage from Panama's early 1980s issues occupies an odd corner of numismatic history — produced primarily for collectors and government presentation sets rather than any monetary function, at a moment when Panama's official currency remained the U.S. dollar for practical purposes, the balboa existing almost entirely as a symbolic assertion of national identity.

The .400 fine gold specification is unusual; most piefort issues of this period used standard circulation alloys struck at double thickness, making this a deliberate departure from convention rather than a simple proof-weight exercise.