5 Fils - Hamad magnetic, 2nd type

Bahrain's shift to brass-plated steel for this denomination was driven by the sustained rise in global copper and zinc prices through the mid-2000s, which made solid brass coinage economically indefensible at small face values. The magnetic steel core cuts production cost sharply while retaining the visual appearance of the earlier alloy. The "2nd type" designation distinguishes it from KM#30.1 by the addition of magnetic properties — the dies are otherwise nearly identical, making attribution without a magnet genuinely unreliable in hand.