5 Cents

Trinidad and Tobago's bronze 5-cent pieces from this period were struck during a moment of unusual fiscal confidence — the country was still riding oil revenues generated by the 1970s petroleum boom, which had transformed it into one of the wealthiest nations per capita in the Caribbean. Within a few years of this issue, oil prices collapsed, and the economic contraction that followed forced a significant rethinking of the coinage program, including eventual moves toward cheaper alloys.