Sri Lanka shifted to brass-plated steel for this denomination as raw material costs made solid brass increasingly uneconomical in the mid-2000s — a pattern seen across South and Southeast Asian mints during the same period. The magnetic property is the quickest field test distinguishing this issue from its non-magnetic brass predecessor, KM#148.2.
Sri Lanka shifted to brass-plated steel for this denomination as raw material costs made solid brass increasingly uneconomical in the mid-2000s — a pattern seen across South and Southeast Asian mints during the same period. The magnetic property is the quickest field test distinguishing this issue from its non-magnetic brass predecessor, KM#148.2.