Barbados switched to nickel plated steel for this denomination largely in response to rising global nickel prices during the mid-2000s commodity boom, which made the earlier cupro-nickel composition increasingly expensive to strike. The magnetic properties of the new planchet also offered vending machine operators a more reliable discrimination signal than the outgoing alloy.
Barbados switched to nickel plated steel for this denomination largely in response to rising global nickel prices during the mid-2000s commodity boom, which made the earlier cupro-nickel composition increasingly expensive to strike. The magnetic properties of the new planchet also offered vending machine operators a more reliable discrimination signal than the outgoing alloy.