5 Cents - Elizabeth II 1st portrait

Seychelles remained a British Crown Colony throughout this coin's entire production run, administered from Mahé under a governor appointed by London. The islands wouldn't achieve internal self-government until 1975, independence in 1976. These cents circulated in an economy almost entirely dependent on copra and cinnamon exports, with tourism not yet the dominant industry it would become after the airport opened in 1971 — the same year this type was retired.