5 Kwacha

Malawi redenominated its currency in 2012, with the kwacha losing roughly half its official value overnight after the government — under pressure from the IMF — abandoned the fixed exchange rate that predecessor Bingu wa Mutharika had stubbornly defended until his death in April of that year. The 5 Kwacha coin entered circulation in that same climate of abrupt monetary adjustment.

Stainless steel clad iron was the pragmatic choice for a country managing chronic import costs on coinage metals.