This 5-cent piece is a coin of the reform that made Fiji’s money smaller and lighter. On 11 December 2008 the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Savenaca Narube, unveiled the new coin series, and it entered circulation on 13 January 2009.

The old designs were kept on purpose so that people would recognise the new coins straight away: the reverse shows the lali, a traditional drum drawn by Ken Payne, and the obverse the portrait of Elizabeth II by Raphael Maklouf. By the bank’s estimate, the smaller size and new composition saved around 3 million dollars.

The type lasted only two years, 2009 and 2010: as early as 2012 the Queen on the obverse was replaced by a fish, the bicolour foxface rabbitfish Nuqa roro. That makes the 2010 coin one of the last Fijian 5-cent pieces with the portrait of Elizabeth II.

Grade AU-UNC: on the border between two grades, with practically no signs of circulation, at most a barely visible rub on the highest points, and the lustre preserved.

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