5 Dollars - Hassanal Bolkiah Hijra

Brunei's 1980 coinage series was struck in the early years following the country's formal adoption of the Brunei dollar as a fully independent currency, managed by the Currency and Monetary Board established in 1967. The Hijra dating on this piece reflects the dual calendar system officially maintained by the sultanate, where Islamic AH dates appear alongside Gregorian ones — a deliberate expression of the state's constitutional Islam.

The copper-nickel composition here mirrors the parallel Singapore and Malaysian issues of the same period, a lingering artifact of the Currency Interchangeability Agreement that kept Brunei, Singapore, and Malaysian dollars at par until Malaysia's withdrawal in 1973.