The shift to copper-nickel plated steel for Trinidad and Tobago's smaller circulation coins was driven by the same commodity-cost pressures that pushed dozens of issuing authorities toward steel cores after 2010 — solid copper-nickel blanks had simply become too expensive to justify at face value. The "Magnetic" designation in KM#31b distinguishes this issue from its predecessors by composition alone, not by any design change.
The shift to copper-nickel plated steel for Trinidad and Tobago's smaller circulation coins was driven by the same commodity-cost pressures that pushed dozens of issuing authorities toward steel cores after 2010 — solid copper-nickel blanks had simply become too expensive to justify at face value. The "Magnetic" designation in KM#31b distinguishes this issue from its predecessors by composition alone, not by any design change.