5 Heller - Wilhelm II

German East Africa's heller coinage was struck at the Berlin mint under authority of the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft, the chartered company that administered the territory before the Imperial German government assumed direct colonial control. The 5 Heller of 1908–1909 arrived during a period of consolidation following the brutal suppression of the Maji Maji Rebellion, which had devastated the colony's population and economy between 1905 and 1907.

The unusually heavy specification for a low-denomination coin was a deliberate response to local exchange customs, where value was often judged by weight rather than face.