5 Pula

Botswana's pula coinage reflects the country's unusual monetary history — the pula was introduced in 1976 to replace the South African rand at par, a deliberate break from the currency union that had tied the newly independent nation's economy to Pretoria. The 5 Pula denomination in bimetallic form was introduced as rising metal costs made single-alloy coinage increasingly impractical across the region.

The copper-nickel centre within a brass-plated steel ring construction is a cost-reduction measure adopted by many African central banks during the 2000s and 2010s as commodity prices spiked.